Elder Knorr

Farewell Spain

2011-04-03T18:51:00.004-07:00

ELDER KNORR COMES HOME THIS WEEK!

"Welcome Home" Open House
at the Knorr home
beginning at 7:00 pm on Friday, April 8th

Spread the word, then come and welcome Christopher home!

The last email...

2011-03-30T06:11:00.004-07:00

Hello Family and Friends! Thanks for your letters and emails this week. I'm supremely grateful for all the help that you've been to me during my mission. I am truly blessed to know people like you.

Well, what to say, what to say... I'm still working hard, though I feel odd. The baptisms went great! Now the family is all together in the gospel. They're very happy and we're very happy for them!

The next few days we have plans just like normal: work hard, meet with lots of people, do the work of the Lord. Halfway through Saturday, we'll be heading down to Madrid for General Conference. We'll go back Sunday for the rest of it. And then Monday, well, it will have been 2 years since I entered the MTC.

Yes, I am planning on leaving a good amount of clothing here in Spain. Bringing my two-pant suit home would make about as much sense as bringing home a bag full of garbage. I may or may not leave a pair or two of my shoes. Most of my "white" shirts will be excluded. My black suit is still ok, and my pinstripe is more-or-less ok. Other knickknacks and hygiene products may not make the cut. I have to get everything into 2 suitcases, both of them under 22 kilos (50 pounds). Tough. So far, I'm trying not to think too much about it. There are still other things to do that are more important.

As for the plans, they sound good. I would be fine with either dinner option, but I know that it will be more fun for you guys to eat out, so we'll do that. You can choose the restaurant. Somewhere that has root beer, please. :)

Wow, so many emotions, so many things I want to say... I feel very blessed that the Lord gave me this opportunity. I can't imagine having gone through life without this experience to help me learn. I am pleased with the opportunity I've had to watch God work miracles in the lives of his children, and even more pleased that I have been able to participate in making those miracles happen. The future (as always) is uncertain, but I have confidence that, come what may, if I do what God wants me to, things will work out alright. I love you all, and again I thank you sincerely for the ways you've helped me. Take care, and may God bless you.

Till we meet,

-Elder Knorr

Danna, Paula and Sofia are getting baptized!

2011-03-23T05:05:00.006-07:00

Hello everyone!

Thanks for the email, Mom, even if it was basically a wedding schedule for the whole summer. I can't believe how many of the people I know are getting married! Especially in my own family! I mean, Emily, for cryin' out loud! You'll have to forgive me if that still seems like a figment of my imagination, as I haven't really had to face the reality of any of this yet. But I'm glad everyone's taking this big step in their lives. Very good. I guess I'll get to go to a lot of receptions. Sweet! :)

Anyhow, I'm glad to hear from everyone. Especially you, Ethan! Sounds like there's a bunch of cool stuff going on in your life lately. Taekwondo testing? Awesome! And I might just make it to the launch of "The Magnum." And I've always wanted to memorize all the extra verses of the Star Spangled Banner too. I'm looking forward to spending some good time with you, Bro. I hope you're up for some adventures!
Just so it's all clear, my current companion's name is Elder Thurston. He's even taller than Elder Holub was. It's true, it's an ironic twist that my trainer was a short guy and my last companion is very tall. The cycle continues...

I'm sorry to hear about President Christianson's heart attack, but I'm glad to hear that he's doing well and that he plans to finish his time as mission president. President Christianson has helped me in many ways growing up and deciding to come on the mission. I hope to see him again soon.

Alright, now for news on missionary work:

The biggest news right now is that Danna, Paula and Sofia are getting baptized this Saturday at 6 o'clock in the Villalba chapel. You're all invited! :) They are all very desirous to be baptized and have very good testimonies. It will be a beautiful service, and the young women will be providing the musical number.

Our other investigators are progressing along well, but slowly. We think that setting some clearer goals for their progress will help them resolve their doubts and move towards baptism.

We are also putting a greater focus on passing by members and helping them fulfill their missionary responsibilities. We are sharing with them the inspired promise given by our mission president that if they refer 5 friends to us, at least one of those friends will be baptized. So far, we're coming up against the usual "I've shared the gospel with everyone I know and there's nothing left to do" excuse, but we're helping them work past that and see that they really do know a lot of people who aren't members of the Church who could benefit from the gospel message. It's a whole new ball game, but I trust that with time, things will begin to open up more.

Another fun note: I'm almost completely out of money. At the end of the mission, we have to answer for our reimbursable 100 euro travel fund. Unfortunately, problems with my reimbursement forms in the past have caused a cash flow dilemma and I've been forced to go very cheap on food this month to come out with those 100 euros. It's been rice and hot dogs for the past week and I'm feeling just fine! :)Well, that's about all that's going on. We keep working hard and enjoying missionary work to its fullest. There are so many people who need the gospel and there's so little time! I'm grateful with all of my soul for the opportunities that the Lord has already given me to share his gospel, and I pray that he gives me a few more yet.

I love you all, thank you for making all of this possible for me.

Take care,
-Elder Knorr

Onward, Ever Onward!

2011-03-16T07:16:00.004-07:00

Hello Family! Thanks for the email. For starters, no, I haven't yet received your package. I'm sure it will arrive soon though, and I look forward to it. Thanks for all of the nice things you've sent me on my mission; they've really helped me work better and more effectively.

It was a good week! Alvaro and his family continue to progress. This last Sunday, both parents were working, but his 3 daughters (Danna, Paula, Sofia) got ready for church all on their own, and we went together. This is especially impressive because when I was 13, 12 or 9, I don't know if I'd have been so responsible! They really enjoy church! They're really great and they're progressing along very nicely. As for the other investigators, we're helping them progress and keep their commitments. The hardest part is definitely getting them to come to church where we can worship the Lord together.

Things are going slowly, but we keep working. As for recent news, we just got done with a 2-almost-3 day exchange with the Barrio 5 zone leaders. I was working down there in Madrid while Elder Cerro took my place in Villalba. We ended the exchange by going to Cercedilla to hike. When we arrived, it was snowing! But we still got out and hiked around a bit and had fun.

As for life after death: anything that can wait till I get home, I'd like it to wait. I want to be able to work these last few weeks as if they were no different from any other three weeks in my mission.

Wow Emily, moving up the wedding to June 4th? At least you haven't moved it up to April 4th yet! :)

Other than that, I'm just doing my best to work hard. Nothing has changed, just the calendar. And thanks for the love and support you all show me.

Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

23 months down, a whole eternity to go!

2011-03-09T09:06:00.003-07:00

Hey Dad!

First off, I'm glad to hear that your personal scripture studies have been better than normal while I've been a missionary. However, just because that era is ending, it doesn't mean that that needs to end! In fact, if you're willing, I'd like to keep doing morning scripture studies with you for as long as I'm at home. And Mom, if she wants to or can, and Ethan too, if he's feeling "man" enough. :) The reason for this is that I may feel like I have a strong testimony now, but it if I say I have enough, it will be taken away from me even that which I have. Same story with Spanish, I figure. So, onward and upward spiritually! and we'll have to think of some ways to keep my Spanish up too. Maybe my future career can involve it.

Things are going well in the area. Sadith and his now completely baptized family are progressing very nicely. We are doing our best to help them prepare to enter the temple and be sealed. We have full confidence that they will be able to do it.

As for our other investigators, we've found some new ones with decent potential, and we've had some difficulty with our old ones. Some families are just going to take some time, while others aren't going anywhere and seem to be losing steam. We're still doing everything we can, and trying to use our time with efficiency.

I got sick yesterday, and had no desires to eat all day. I got very tired, had chills, aches and pains, a headache, and had a few other undesirable symptoms... I was worried that it was a repeat of the sickness I had almost exactly a year ago in Barrio 4 (remember, the one that put me out for almost a week?) but today I feel much better, so I don't think there's anything to worry about for the time being. Still a little weak, but I think that once I get some good food into my body, I'll be good as new.

I'm sad to hear that the fruitless pear must be chopped down. You know what they say: every tree that bringeth forth not good fruit must be hewn down and cast into the fire. Just as long as you don't cut down the pine tree, we're good, ok? :) But I am curious: why are we going to build a tree fort in a tree that we're just going to chop down?Well, thanks for the email. It was great fun reading it and enjoying it. And I hope everything goes well. Let me know if anyone dies/gets engaged. Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

The work goes on!

2011-03-02T06:15:00.013-07:00

Happy Birthday, Max! Wow, 8 years of puppy love? Where did the time go. Why, it seems only yesterday that Dad brought Max home. He's such a good little puppy...and I'm glad to hear that he still gets a kick out of shredding the egg cartons. He always did love that, didn't he? I wonder if he'll still remember me after all this time. It's sure been a while.

Well, things are going great! You asked for a run-down of our investigators and the work in Villalba, so I decided to write a bit of a summary:

Sadith was baptized as planned this last Sunday. It was a great experience for all those present, including Isaac. Now all 4 members of Sadith's family are members of the church: Sadith, Maritzah, Michelle and Bryan. They're awesome people and I love them a lot. We're all very happy for Sadith and his decision. Now, just one more year and they can be sealed in the temple! :)

We have basically 3 other families that we're working with at the moment. Diana and Daniel, and their kids Michelle and Daniel. They're good. Daniel Sr. avoids us a lot and doesn't have interest like the other three. Also, Diana's father, Jose Maria, is interested in learning more and coming to church, so we're working with him too. Their current challenge is that they're not coming to church like they should be... it's a bit discouraging but we will keep working with them.

Alvaro, Lani and their family are doing well. They're the ones with 3 baptism-age daughters. They came to church last week and the daughters just LOVED it! We need to help Alvaro just as much as his daughters, but all in all it was a smashing success getting them all to church. Our visits are falling through too often with them and that's a little frustrating.

Our third family, Maria and her kids, is doing well. She is the most reliable of the three but has been sick lately and thus incapable of meeting or coming to church. She has come once, however, and is a good investigator. We're helping her work through her problems so as to help her young family.

Then there's a good group of young people who have been referred by their friends to investigate the church. Alejandro, Fabiola, and Raquel (youth from the ward) have all invited friends to learn more about the church. All of their friends are good, have interest, and many of them are coming to church. It's a very nice trend that we're seeing.

Then there's Isaac [who is hearing-impaired]. We are moving slowly but surely to help him understand basic principles of the gospel, such as faith, prayer and the need for baptism and repentance. The other day, I spent about 10 minutes just on repentance and what the word means. It's a whole new challenge.

Well, that's more or less what's going on right now. I'm loving missionary work and sucking all of the enjoyment out of it that I can. I thank you all for your concern, love, and prayers on my behalf. I will continue to do my best to help others and keep the flame alive.

Till next time, your missionary son/brother/friend,

-Elder Knorr

Elders Barlow, Thurston and Knorr

Snow White's wishing well?

Inside Look at the Missionary Training Center in Provo

2011-02-25T21:09:00.003-07:00

Click below for short video clip . . .

MTC celebrates 50th anniversary

Back to a twosome, and Sadith to be baptized this week!

2011-02-23T04:46:00.004-07:00

Hello family! Thanks for the emails and letters you've been sending, they're great.

Well, our trio was to be short-lived. Elder Barlow was transferred this last Monday to work in Barrio 3 in Madrid, leaving me and Elder Thurston alone here again. It's nice in some ways, being able to restore the old functions of having a normal companionship, but we also miss Elder Barlow a lot. He was a way nice guy who had a big heart and liked making jokes. Though he couldn't speak Spanish hardly at all, everyone loved him because he had so much charm and was so personable and didn't take himself too seriously. I'm sure he will do incredible things in the mission.

Many other changes happened. The Canary Islands got more-or-less redone and a bunch of missionaries from the mainland were switched with a bunch of missionaries from the islands. A few people went back and forth from up north and Madrid. All in all, lots of changes. We stayed mostly put, Elder Thurston and I.

The biggest news this week is that Sadith Coello is very close to being baptized! His service is scheduled for the 27th this week and we're all very excited, especially him, for this new step he will be taking in his life. His interview last night went through without a hitch, and he'll soon be joining his family in Church membership. An interesting thing about Sadith: he has read the entire Book of Mormon already. He decided that it would be important to read the whole book before getting baptized, so he set that goal. Many days, as we passed by his apartment, we saw him sitting out in his minivan all alone, reclined, reading the Book of Mormon. I asked him where he was in the book the other day, and he said that he was almost done with Moroni. Incredible! Sadith is a good man and the Lord needs him in His Church.

In other news, we continue to find new people to find, teach and baptize. We have about 3 families that are really showing progress right now. Maria and her two kids, Daniel y Diana and their two kids, and Alvaro and Lani and their three daughters. Two of the three are looking a little shaky right now, but we're not going to give up on them just yet. They have good desires, but are a little "flojo" at the moment and need help.

Things are still going well with the members. We are helping a good number of less active members come back to Church. This last week, actually, was a very successful week in that regard. Many people came to Church who don't normally do that, including one family that has been estranged from the ward for almost 5 years. It was a true joy to see all of these people make the decision to come back. That is just as satisfying to me to see. After all, I'm here to invite all people to come to Christ. I'm doing all that I can to keep focused on the work and use my time wisely. There is still so much work to do here in Villalba! And there are so many investigators to teach and to help progress.

I can't afford to lose focus now! Now that we're back in a normal companionship, I find it all the easier to really buckle up and work hard. I hope and pray that the Lord will be pleased with my sacrifice.

I love you all! Thanks for your support in letters and emails. I appreciate all that you do for me, and for each other.

Take care, and till next time,

Elder Knorr

Excerpt and Picture from Sister Watkins' Mission Blog

2011-02-17T08:05:00.006-07:00

Elder Knorr's mission mom reports on activities in her mission blog.

Here are a couple of recent posts:

"On Feb. 15, we had a zone conference for the three Madrid Zones: Madrid Este, Madrid Sur and Cuatro Caminos. Including the three senior couples there are 72 missionaries in those three zones. We met from 10:00 to 2:45. President and Watkins spoke, as did the two Ayudantes (AP's), Elders Driggs and Ketchum. We heard a lovely musical number from Elders Knorr, DeHaro, and Raiano. We then broke up into zones for workshops lead by the three sets of Zone Leaders: Elders Middleton and Jackson, Elders Griotti and Carter, and Elders Cerro and Gomez. Following the workshops, we went to the Temple cafeteria for lunch. All that was left to do after lunch was sing Happy Birthday to the January and February birthday missionaries, enjoy No-Bake Cookies and pick up mail and supplies. Zone Conference is always a great time to recharge our missionary zeal and spiritual batteries!

____________________________

"A favorite Preparation Day activity - futbol (soccer)"

Can you spot Elder Knorr in the grey shirt?

Looking at Spain through Fresh Eyes

2011-02-16T23:41:00.002-07:00

Well, things are going more or less normal here in Villalba. Our trio presses onward. This is probably the closest I will get to training while on my mission, so I'm enjoying it.

There's so much that I've been learning and discovering as I've helped Elder Barlow get used to things here. I've noticed a lot of things that I am now used to that are new for him. Weird! A lot of the things were little, insignificant things, like the fact that doorknobs here are in the middle of the door, or that there's hardly any carpet, or that the traffic lights commonly flash yellow (yield), or that everyone smokes, or that milk comes in 1 liter boxes and can be stored at room temperature, or that there is no peanut butter or root beer. These are all things that are now normal to me, but they shouldn't be. Does that make sense? These things are strange, but I don't notice them anymore. Having Elder Barlow around to point it all out is quite interesting, seeing as I may have never noticed it myself.

We had Zone Conference and Stake Conference this past week. Although Stake Conference was an hour and a half away, Sadith came with all his family and Alvaro also made the trip with his 12-year-old daughter Paula. It was a great experience for all present and they all continue towards baptism.

Sadith now has a date for the 26th of February, and he's excited and looking forward to it, as is his family. He is a great man and has overcome a lot to be able to get to this point. We are going to do everything possible to help him achieve his goal.

Other than that, things are looking tricky due to a sudden lack of money... :S We had to buy a variety of pots and pans for the piso, and I ended up footing the bill. Now I have about 5 euros to get me through the next 2 weeks. Yeah. Fun times. Fortunately, Elder Barlow has plenty of money on the month still, and we live the law of consecration when it comes to food. :)

Today, we went in to Madrid and spent some time with some of the other missionaries down there. We stopped by a pretty sweet Star Wars exhibition and took some pictures with all of the life-size stuff and had a good time.

Oh, another thing. Remember Freencky Portas? Well, he put his papers in for the mission and he got his call last week. Guess where he's serving...? Salt Lake City, Utah. English Speaking. I literally screamed when I found out. :)

Well, not much else going on right now. I'm loving being a missionary and am looking forward to Sadith's baptism. I love you all and thank you for your prayers and support.

Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

Picture from Madrid Mission Newsletter

2011-02-10T21:58:00.003-07:00

Six elders went home from the Madrid Mission this month, and they only received one new missionary - Elder Barlow, whom Elder Knorr and Elder Thurston get to train. From Elder Knorr's report in his last email, they're off to a great start!

New Slideshow - consolidated pictures from Current Area of Villalba!

2011-02-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Check it out, on the right...

Lights out, training a new elder, and found a Colombian family!

2011-02-09T08:09:00.011-07:00

Hello! Well, though I will confess that I saw this coming a while out, I am somewhat shocked. My little sister is engaged! Bwhah... I can't believe it! I... am at a complete loss for words on this. All I can really say is that I'm very happy for Justin and Emily and that I wish them the very best in their new future together. I may have missed the whole courtship and engagement, but at least I'll make the wedding!
Well, compared to that bit of news, everything else seems insignificant. I'm glad to hear about Lauren and David, as well as Matthew and Theresa. Sounds like everyone's deciding to get married all of a sudden. Not that it's a bad thing. I do thank everyone for waiting until I could get back to get married though. :) You're all the best!

Work here in Villalba is good. We had just begun morning studies this last Monday when suddenly the lights went out. Apparently there was a problem with our bills and the power company pulled the plug on us. Moving quickly, we washed the remaining dishes with the remaining hot water (or water heater is electric) and sealed the fridge and freezer. A quick distress call was made to our financial secretary.

An hour or so later, we got a call telling us some even more shocking news: we were to receive a new elder in Villalba named Elder Barlow, and Elder Thurston and I would both be training him in a trio.

Then, yesterday (Tuesday) we had our best Tuesday yet in Villalba, welcoming Elder Barlow and then teaching 5 lessons, 4 of them to investigators with members present. We found two new families and things were just going great.

And now this news about Emily's engagement... wow. Lots of new stuff going on. Better than things being boring, I guess! :) Oh, and by the way, our power came back on at the same time Tuesday morning. All went well.

A bit of a rundown on Elder Thurston, since you asked. He's a tall guy, a great missionary and, from what I hear, a good shot. He's from Logan, Utah, from a family of 7, and loves outdoors activities: camping, hunting, etc. He's also a champion shotgun shooter, and has made it to nationals before. We get along great, making jokes and working hard.

A random talent I've discovered on the mission: I can do a pretty good impersonation of the lead singer in Nickelback. Remember Dad, the gritty voice on the "cornflakes" song? Well, I've perfected it (more or less). It just so turns out that Elder Barlow's favorite band was Nickelback before the mission, so we've been having some fun times with that.

A bit more detail on our investigators. We found a brand new family from Colombia, Bogota. They're a young-ish couple, both baptized, and they have three daughters (13, 12, 9) who haven't been baptized. His name is Alvaro Jon, and his mother's name is Ana Julia Castro Cubillos. Do you know her, Dad? He said she lived in Bogota at about the same time you were living there, and that she always had the missionaries over. Anyways, they're all really good because apparently they still have Family Night frequently and have good testimonies. It's crazy, the Lord has prepared them to receive the gospel at this time.

Besides that, all is well. We continue to work hard, contacting, teaching and finding. We've been experiencing a surge in work this past week. Things are definitely looking up.

Well, thanks so much, everyone, for your love and support! I realized the other day that I owe everything to God, and to all of you, the people who I knew who made me who I am. Thanks for the ways you continue to positively influence my life.

Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

P.S. I've been thinking a bit about souvenirs. There are quite a few things here in Spain that you can't get anywhere else, and I guess you could say I'm taking requests. If anyone wants anything in particular, it would be much easier and less time-consuming for me to get a list of things than to have to shop and stuff. So, if anyone thinks that a fan or some castanets would be the whiz-fizz, just let me know. Oh, and Jonathan, I plan on bringing back several kinds of Spanish food. I already have a mental list, but if there's anything in particular you'd like to try again, let me know soon. Just so you're aware, this includes chuces, turron, chocolate muesli, and various other items.

Spanish Spelunking!

2011-02-04T07:58:00.004-07:00

Elder Knorr emailed these photos on his Pday, but we just received them today - they were temporarily lost somewhere between Villalba, Spain and Orem, Utah.

He explains:

"We went to Segovia for my birthday and as part of the celebration we went to explore a nearby cave by the castle with a family of members. It was fun, here's some pictures of our spelunking!"

Three pictures from Sister Watkins' mission blog - Can you spot Elder Knorr?

2011-02-02T20:06:00.002-07:00

Hello! Short letter and some "random" pics

2011-02-02T06:11:00.009-07:00

First off, this will be a shorter one because I'm going to attach some photos and that will take time. But here's what's up:

Sadith continues to progress famously. Isaac and Andrea as well, but we need to reevaluate their progress and make sure that their desires are correct. They're very kind, gentle, sweet and patient, but it's so hard to communicate with them! I think we'll be able to manage through pure force of will, if nothing else. We will set a baptismal date with them today.

It's been bitingly cold lately, most of the cold coming from some ferocious wind chill. They say it will be bad until March. We'll see.

We've been going on lots of exchanges lately, with Segovia, the Zone Leaders in Madrid 5, the Assistants from Madrid 2, and in two days, the District Leader in Madrid 1. It's nice to mix things up a little, but we honestly just want to stay in our area and be able to work here for a while.

Well, that's about all I've got for today. Enjoy the pictures! Thanks for all of the love and support.

Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

A picture of me with my awesome
chocolate birthday cake
Elder Thurston in the entrance of an
apartment building - I guess they didn't design it
with people of his stature in mind...The weirdest face that I've been able to make to date

Action Shots from the Field!

2011-01-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

A Great Week!

2011-01-26T19:29:00.002-07:00

Hello everyone!

First off, Ethan, thanks for the message! I got a letter from you guys this week and I got a copy of the program that features that SICK drawing that Ethan made! :) Really, I love it, it's way cool, and my companion thinks so too. Apparently Ethan has a much better artistic vision than I did at his age. And he's more athletic. And more popular. And better looking. Dang it, Ethan, won't you leave anything for me? :)

So, things are going well here in Villalba. Isaac, Andrea and Sadith are all still progressing wonderfully. The Linares family in the ward (from Honduras, David and his wife Laura with their one child) has offered to learn sign language and become the official interpreters for Isaac and Andrea. They volunteered themselves enthusiastically! and they're learning very fast. I'm sure that things will go great in that regard. We taught Isaac the Word of Wisdom yesterday and he is willing to live it. In all honesty, he has very little problem with it in the first place.

Today we went to San Sebastian de los Reyes and stayed in the mission home for a few hours. It was nice, they made us some food and we played some tennis and sang some cheerful music. It was all-around good times. It cost a lot of traveling and time though.

Speaking of things costing... I'm out of money for the rest of the month. :D So... yeah... back to the lentils, rice, potatoes, eggs diet that we survived on for two weeks in Segovia. Ah, just like the good old days.

All in all, life is good here. I'm trying to use my time to its fullest, every day, every hour, every minute. There's way too much to do and so little time... but the time I do have is a gift that needs to be used wisely.

I love you all and thanks for all of the letters I've received lately (including one from Xander and one from Isaac). You're all the greatest. I love you!

Till next time,
-Elder Knorr

21st Birthday - Mario's and Michelle's Baptisms - and "focusing on the now"

2011-01-19T06:20:00.006-07:00

Hello Knorr Family and friends! Thank you for all of the birthday wishes. It's me, Elder Knorr.

Doing email here in Villalba, waiting for the train to come so that we can got to Segovia and meet with some members for my birthday.

It was a good day. I got an excellent cake mix from Grandpa and Grandma Knorr, which we cooked up in a jiffy. We gave half of it to one of our ward missionaries, who's birthday was on the 17th of January, so it worked out perfectly. Besides that, we made bacon and eggs this morning, and I think Segovia is setting some kind of surprise party for me (though I can't be sure.)

But the BIG news is that Mario and Michelle both got baptized! Mario is now the coolest possible Recent Convert, wanting to help us and accompany us to all the visits that we will allow him to, and has set the Temple as his next goal. Michelle is the 3rd member of her 4-person family to get baptized, so we're now working bit by bit with Sadith, her father, who is showing some pretty good desires and interest to get baptized. They're both very happy. The baptismal services in themselves went well: we had one in the morning and one at night, to accommodate the individual circumstances of each. Both services were very spiritual, and special experiences for us, the people getting baptized, and all those in attendance. They both asked me to baptize them, so we had some logistical problems when it came to clothes... which we quickly resolved. We also baked some brownies for the morning baptism. All in all, great.

Isaac and Andrea came to Church for the second time this last week, even though Isaac was tired from his late-night work (that always seems to be a problem for people we teach.) Interpreting this time was extra difficult for some reason; I think I've plateaued in my learning and need to start putting some extra effort into my studies in order to keep progressing. We're also starting to make long-term arrangements so that Isaac and Andrea will be able to continue in the Church even after I'm gone. We've asked the bishop to assign a member of the Church to do it. We'll see if he responds to our request. Besides that, we'll be teaching some basic sign language to the youth during this week's mutual so that Isaac and Andrea have more people to talk to. We got a simplified Book of Mormon for them (the one made for children with the pictures and simplified explanations underneath). They like it a lot, especially Andrea, because they can actually understand what it's about now. Elder Thurston is picking up on Sign Language very quickly.
In the meantime, we're looking for new investigators, due to the fact that the majority of our good ones just changed from investigators to members. We're talking with lots of people on the street and searching for people who want to hear the message of the Restored Gospel.

OK, now let's talk about the stuff that I'd rather not talk about. Mom, to answer your questions: [I had asked him a few logistical questions about his plans upon returning in April, which he answered.]

Alright, enough about those worldly things. I think I'm doing a pretty good job not thinking about going home and focusing on the NOW, but I can always do better. Things are going great here in Villalba and I hope to stay here for the rest of my mission, if the Lord wills it so. I'm glad to hear from you all and appreciate your support and love. Take care, and DON'T FORGET what's really important!

-Elder Knorr

Fresh Pictures Taken Today! and Nice Comments from a Member in Villalba!

2011-01-17T09:24:00.006-07:00

Elder Knorr and his new companion, Elder Thurston, gave a birthday cake to one of the ward missionaries (Clara Molina Blanco) who's getting ready to leave on a mission. Here's her explanation and some pictures:

"Yesterday I called the missionaries to confirm a discussion and they told me they had no idea what I was talking about, but they also added that I had to make sure to be at home by 3 p.m. At 3:30 p.m. today they were at my front door with a Birthday Cake with 21 candles, and sung me Happy Birthday!!! Aren´t they nice?? I was told by them that they brought me a cake to thank me for all the times I´ve helped them (not so many times by the way).

The two missionaries are: Elder Knorr and Elder Thurston and I promise I´ll be just like them when I go on my mission =)"

Michelle and Mario to be Baptized - and another TRANSFER ATTACK!!!

2011-01-12T05:41:00.014-07:00

Well, hello everyone! Lots has happened this week that I need to fill you all in on. First off, TRANSFER ATTACK!!! Elder Holub was forcefully uprooted from his beloved Villalba and sent far up North to Galicia, Santiago de Compostela. So, I'm sure he'll be enjoying life up there and spreading the joy and love of the gospel to everyone just as he did down here in Villalba and before in Alcobendas. To replace him came Elder Thurston from Logan, Utah, who is even TALLER than Elder Holub was. We've been getting settled in and keeping things going in the area in the meantime, and I'm sure we'll have a great companionship. Elder Holub is my favorite companion to date, but we'll see what happens with Elder Thurston!

Things are going well here in Villalba, as far as missionary work goes. Michelle and Mario will both be baptized this Saturday, at different times. They have both asked me to baptize them. Last night we had their interviews and they both passed with flying colors and are totally ready to take the important step of baptism. I'll be singing a solo for one of the musical numbers. We'll see how it goes! Also, Michelle wanted Elder Holub to give a talk at her baptism, but since he got transferred, he recorded a talk and we will listen to it at the baptism instead! Cool, eh?

In other news, things are going great with Isaac and Andrea. My signing is improving. We keep teaching them good lessons and they seem to understand pretty well what we want to communicate. And, the biggest news of all, is that we got them to Church this last Sunday! It was an excellent experience. I had to put all of my signing skill to work in order to try and interpret the talks and lessons, but I'm pretty sure they got the jyst of it. Isaac said that he liked the Santa Cena [sacrament], and he had another spiritual experience during Sacrament Meeting that really strengthened his testimony. Besides that, the night before, Mario, Isaac and Andrea all came to a baptism with us that was being held in Barrio 1, Madrid. I had to interpret there as well, and they enjoyed the experience. The best part was being able to talk to Isaac on the bus there and back and learn more about him and Andrea and their lives. This is probably the biggest challenge I've ever undertaken in my life: integrating a deaf person into a hearing ward and helping them gain a testimony, but I know that with the Lord's help, nothing is impossible.

They've begun demolition to build a new capilla [chapel] here in Villalba (a "carillon," you could say). It will resemble those we're used to in Utah: a free-standing building with a steeple and a real cultural hall and all the bells and whistles. I don't know if I'll still be around when it's finished, but it's still exciting to hear about. I am very happy and pleased that we will have a nice, new capilla.

Besides that, nothing new! We were sad to take down the Christmas decorations and put away the Christmas music, but there's a time and a place for everything. A few New Years Resolutions I've set: daily workouts to the next level, eating better, and keeping the apartment cleaner. So far, all three are on track.

I love you all! Thank you, ALL of you, for your kindness and concern. I really appreciate the emails, letters, and packages that I've received lately. They've helped me in a multitude of ways.

Take care,

-Elder Knorr

1- Elder Holub with Maritzah, Brian, and Michelle
Coello. We celebrated his 20th birthday with them.2- Elder Holub and me3- The Baptism in Villalba Barrio 1 - Pablo (ward mission leader), Mario, Andrea, Isaac, me, Elder Holub4- Our Romanian Gypsy Family :) [Mariana]

New Investigator Mario!

2011-01-05T07:01:00.006-07:00

Wow, that's too bad about the Provo Tabernacle! Has the building itself been hopelessly damaged, or are there plans to restore it? That's a neat thing about the picture of Christ's Second Coming. It reminds me of the scriptures quoted in Handel's Messiah "For who shall stand when he appeareth? and who shall abide the day of his coming? For he is like a refiner's fire..." I don't know, but it is a neat thing. Still stinks that the Provo Tabernacle was burned. I always really liked that building.

Anyway, things are going well. In about an hour we have a visit with Isaac. He and Andrea have been on vacation in Barcelona for the last week, so we've been out of contact for a while, but they have plans to come to church this Sunday and we're very excited for that. Today we hope to set a definitive baptismal date with him and explain the Holy Ghost better. We don't have a word for "Espiritu Santo" in LSE, so we're going to have to make one up. We have plans to get him a simplified version of the Book of Mormon (the one for children that comes with pictures) so that he can understand better the doctrines and stories. We're still concerned that even that book would not be able to fully convey the important doctrines contained in the Book of Mormon, but it would at least be something.

Natalia did not get baptized the 3rd as we had planned. There are problems in her family that keep impeding her progress, and a little more effort needs to be shown on her part as well before a baptism will be possible. We'll keep working with her.

We have a great investigator right now named Mario. We found him while contacting near the train station and had a 15 minute chat about gospel subjects with him right there. We invited him to come by the church to talk some more, and he did. We watched the Restoration movie and he absolutely loved it! Since that day, he has really gotten into the Book of Mormon and given his full effort to learning it and applying it in his life. He has gained a firm testimony that the Church is true and that he wants to follow it. He has a baptismal date for the 15th of January, and he stopped smoking New Year's Day. We were originally going to meet with him a few days after to help him with our "quit-smoking program," but when he showed up he let us know that he hadn't smoked in 3 days and that he had no intentions of doing so. Incredible! In every way, he is progressing towards his baptism. We're excited for him and know that he is making changes that will help him for his whole life.

We've been traveling around a lot lately: making the journey to Madrid several times, and to Segovia a handful of times as well. The weather is cold, and for the past two days it's been very foggy (something that happens periodically here that I haven't seen happen much in Utah.)

Tomorrow is Three Wise Men day (Dia de Reyes Magos) and after that the vacations will officially cease and we will be able to start meeting with more people and having more members accompany us to visits. I've felt crippled these past few weeks as far as missionary work is concerned, just because of a general drop in the work.

I'm glad the you enjoyed the Christmas call. Thanks so much for all of the love and support you send me, in emails and letters and such things. It means a lot to me to know that I'm appreciated and loved by my family and friends back home. Just know that I'm giving it my all out here in Spain and that I intend to keep working hard until the end. I love you! Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

P.S. A warning to all: Don't send anything to my apartment address. It doesn't seem to work... and I would hate to lose your letters.

Report on Christmas Phone Call with Elder Knorr

2011-01-01T13:25:00.017-07:00

Another great phone call with Elder Knorr on Christmas Day! Since we were at Grandma and Grandpa Godfrey's home, we didn't record it this time, but here's a quick recap...

Background:

We made the call 15 mins. late, and when he picked up he explained they were just finishing up a lesson with their 2 hearing impaired investigators, husband and wife Isaac and Andrea.
We thought that was the best Christmas gift Elder Knorr could give his family - to lose track of time and forget about the call home because he was busy teaching the Gospel!
They said their goodbyes and we chatted as they began walking home...then "click" - the phone went dead.
We kept trying to call back and finally about 10 mins. later he answered again. The battery had gone dead and so they ran all the way back to their piso to plug it in! We continued and had a grand total of 45 minutes to talk and get caught up on all the goings-on.

Their Christmas Eve lunch plans with a family had fallen through so they fixed themselves a festive feast of pineapple, oranges, choriso (sausage) and cured ham on toasted breads and other local delicacies.
They ate their Christmas Day meal with a local family (dad Spanish/mom Finnish).
He continues to learn LSE (Spanish sign language). It differs from ASL in the order of the grammatical structure, as well as the Spanish vs. English spelling and phonetics.
Natalia, their young Spanish-Brazilian investigator, will be baptized on January 3rd!
Mariana (from Romania) progresses well. Despite the fact that she speaks little Spanish, they are able to communicate enough (with the Spirit's help) to get the message across. She reads the scriptures, including the Book of Mormon, Romanian.
He says he feels totally safe from crime in Spain. He went on to describe it as a sort of "police state" with machine gun toting soldiers and muzzled German Shepherds a not-uncommon sight. He thinks the dogs have been trained to growl and bark at random people just to keep a fear of the police alive.
It's cold but not unbearable in Spain.
We asked about a short winter coat he was wearing in a recent photo and he said was a "piso-find" left behind by a former missionary. He says his other clothes are wearing thin but will last until the end.
There's a little confusion about his release date. When he said "I have 5 more months" I replied "Aren't you coming home April 5th?" (which is the date we received in an email from his mission president). He thinks it's closer to April 25th, and didn't want to dwell on it. He's guarding himself against getting "trunky" so we dropped the subject. I just said, "Well if you hear anything more definitive, just let us know." We of course are impatient for his return, but want him to end strong!
He hopes he stays in Villalba until the end of his mission, and is happy to get another General Conference in the mission field.
We all had a chance to talk with him (Grandma and Grandpa, Megan, Ethan, Mom and Dad). He listened with interest to our news too.
Before we said goodbye, he bore his testimony to us (in English this time). It was the perfect way to end a wonderful Christmas Day call.

Learning LSE and Christmas Plans!

2010-12-24T10:53:00.006-07:00

Hello family! It's been a great week this week and I'm excited to share my experiences.

First off, we just barely taught Isaac, our friendly deaf investigator. In our last lesson (the one before this one) he had expressed the desire to be baptized, which made Elder Holub and I very happy. However, we still haven't been able to "cover much ground" as far as the lessons and doctrines go. I realized the other day while I was riding the train from Segovia that there is no way that Isaac can enjoy the gospel fully without an interpreter. There are no Church materials in LSE (Lengua de Signos Española), no videos are translated into that language (almost all are translated into ASL, but that does Isaac little good as the two languages are as different as English and Spanish.) Also, reading in Spanish is difficult because there are many words, especially scriptural language, that he does not understand. This is to say nothing of the Church meetings which, as you can probably imagine, are mind-numbingly boring for him. We'd looked high and low, in Villalba and Madrid, for an interpreter member of the Church who could volunteer their time, but we found no one. We could pay to have a professional interpreter come, but that isn't a sustainable option.

So, I saw no other option than to buckle down and learn LSE for myself: not just a token effort to get across some broad principles, but actually learn it. I wanted to be able to teach Isaac better and to be able to interpret for him during Church meetings. I've dedicated my daily hour of language study time during the day to learn LSE, and I also take time during meals and right before and after sleeping to studying it. I checked out a LSE grammar book from the local library (where we do weekly emails) and I've been going through it. I'm enjoying learning, but after our lesson today (which went great) I see how important this really is. I love Isaac and want him to be able to share the blessings of the gospel that I've received, and as long as he's still willing to learn the gospel, then I'll be willing to learn and speak his language. In the meantime, we've gotten two of the members of the ward to start learning so that when I leave, there will still be someone here to interpret.

Our hearing investigators are doing great, too. :) We met a man named Mario, a very energetic Spaniard in his mid-30s who's looking for the truth. He loved the Restoration movie and is really diving in to the Book of Mormon. He's learning a lot, and he understands the importance of the Spirit. We talked about baptism, and he expressed concern about getting baptized because of his addiction to smoking. We explained that we can help him quit and he was very excited about the idea! We'll be visiting with him today to teach him more, and get him started on the quit-smoking program.

Natalia, a young Spanish-Brazilian investigator, passed her baptismal interview this week. Her baptism is set for the January 3rd, and we're very excited for her. Also, Michelle Coello, another investigator from Ecuador, has recovered in part from her surgery and is feeling ready to get baptized. We are all praying to know what her date will be.

Christmas and Christmas Eve Day are somewhat lame in the field. Why? Because almost no one wants to meet with you on those days. Everyone's spending it with family, or at a party with friends, or something else. No one seems to want to spend it with the lame, boring, weird missionaries. Well, that's not true. There are a few families who have invited us over: one to eat at mediodia Christmas Eve and one to eat mediodia Christmas. Besides that, we'll probably spend most of our time in the streets contacting Muslims and Chinese people. Fun!

We've been saving packages and putting them under Elder Holub's little Christmas Tree in the corner and have been enjoying a variety of Spanish Christmas-y delicacies.

Hampson [the leg of ham] is holding up well. We hit bone on one side of the leg, so we've started cutting in on the other side. This second side is much more juicy and tender than the first. Mmmm....

I love you all and I'm anxiously looking forward to being able to talk with you! Merry Christmas, everyone! I love being a missionary, even though it restricts some of my ability to celebrate Christmas the normal way with all of you. Know that I have you in my thoughts and prayers.

Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

Missionary Work is Great Here!

2010-12-15T06:57:00.004-07:00

Hello! Wow, lots of news this week from my family, and home in general! I don't know where to begin...

I let out shocked cries of "What!?!" concerning Lauren Elliot and David Butler. It's funny the things that happen in life that you never would have seen coming, isn't it? In any case, they look very happy together and I'm sure they are. And it's nice to see a photo of my old friend Isaac (this is only the 2nd one I've seen of him in a two-year period) and also Melanie. They also look very happy together! I wish them all the best in their new life together... wow. All my friends getting married. I heard that Ben Quilter is getting married too! Oddly enough, I find it easy to disbelieve all of this because of my distance from it. In other words, my removal from the situations at home allow me to suspend reality and not actually consider the implications of things that are really happening. Yes, I consider myself informed, but only in the shallowest sense. I suppose it will all come crashing down on me when I get home. Fortunately, I can also suspend that reality. Let the good times roll!!! Onward, ever onward....! :)

Moving on: Ethan continues to prove his awesomeness by buying another Nerf gun and crafting his own duct tape suit. Happy Birthday, Ethan, and welcome to a whole new era of your life. I'm glad I'll be around for the majority of it. You don't even know all of the great things that are waiting for you in your future.

And I am very glad to have received pictures of my two beautiful sisters, including one with the until-now-thought-mythical Justin. It looks like they are also very happy together. What dance was this picture taken before?

Well, missionary work is GREAT here! It's cold, but there's no snow. Yesterday was the most "bomb-town" (a companionship catchphrase) day that I've had in a long, long time. We taught two very spiritual lessons to Natalia, a young investigator with a baptismal date for next week, and Mariana, a Romanian woman who hardly understands a thing in Spanish, but has achieved a very strong testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon by reading it in Romanian and praying about it. We then found two new, excited investigators.

I'm loving working here, with this companion, with these members, in this area, in this Work. I know it's true. I want everyone to know that for themselves, here abroad and at home as well. If you are wondering whether this message is true or not, I invite you all to take a bit of time to study it out in your mind, read some Church material, and pray and ask God, your Heavenly Father, if it is the Truth. I promise you all that if you do, your testimony will be strengthened, as mine has been time and time again out here in the mission field. Everything will fall into its proper place. You will receive additional clarity and insight, as well as peace and comfort. The Gospel is true. The Church is true. Those things will never change. The only thing that can change is how much each of us personally know that it's true, and that makes all the difference in the end. Try. Know. I promise you you'll never regret it.

Well, that's all the time I have today. I love you all! Take care of yourselves and each other, and thanks for all of the love you continually show me. Bye!

-Elder Knorr

Hello! Meet Hampson! (pictures below)

2010-12-08T06:48:00.006-07:00

The weather has been very stormy here in Villalba. Lots of snow, rain, wind and cold. It mellowed out near the end of the week and the temperature got quite pleasant for a little while. Today is normal, with rather gray skies and not-too-cold temperatures. Maybe a bit of light rain later on.

Anyway, enough talking about the weather! Things continue to go well here in Villalba. There seems to be a curse on this area, however: we find lots of people to teach, they do great at first, but then they all seem to run into unsolvable obstacles and lose drive. It's really sad. We've tried so hard to help them but they don't seem to ever progress. It's a challenge. In the meantime, we keep looking for new people and trying to help the ones we're already teaching. Preach my Gospel says that my responsibility is to teach with clarity and power so that people can make the right choice. Beyond that, and exhorting them with all diligence, there's not much we can do. They have to make their own decisions, and sometimes they just make really dumb ones. Missionary work is quite frustrating sometimes.

In the meantime, we're working really well with the members. They have a lot of drive to help us here, which actually pains me sometimes, because if any ward deserved to have more baptisms, it's this one, and I just wish we could give them what they want. It will take some time but I'm sure that if we are obedient, work hard, and teach to people's needs, the Lord will do the rest and people's hearts will be changed.

I successfully made some delicious Honey Barbecue Chicken the other day. Also, our leg of cured ham is treating us quite well. :) Hampson is his name, and we've been working our way through him over the past week. [More pictures below.] I remember Elder Zollinger made me promise to do this at least once in my mission, and I'm glad I did. It's been quite a Spanish experience, eating slices of cured ham on Spanish "pan del dia" with a bit of cured cheese on the side. From what I understand, spanish jamon is not allowed in the United States by the FDA, so I won't be able to send any home. Sorry!

Well, I think I'll spend the rest of my email time attaching pictures to this email. Enjoy! I love you all. I haven't gotten any letters in a while. Can we see what we can do about that? Thanks! :)

-Elder Knorr

P.S. I've been asked to participate in the Madrid Stake Christmas Concert! I'll be playing an arrangement of Christmas carols on the clarinet! I'm pretty anxious because I haven't played the clarinet in a very long time, but I'm hoping that a lot of it comes back.

PHOTOS

Officially in the Holiday Spirit!

2010-12-01T09:18:00.003-07:00

Hello Dad! It was good to hear from you. I love Mom and everything but I like getting multiple perspectives on things as well. The Gary Powers U2 incident sounds like it was fun. I didn't expect that you would have success recreating it without some kind of missile guidance system (not even the Soviets were that good of shots). But it sounds like you and Ethan have been having a lot of fun together and building memories. I've made a long list of things that Ethan and I will do when I get back, so you'd better not get used to monopolizing all his time.

Work in Villalba continues to go well. We've actually had a rough past couple days but I know it's just a minor setback. Monday was especially challenging as all of our visits fell through, it began to snow quite hard, and there was a Real Madrid vs Barcelona soccer match going on which means that NO ONE was on the street (they were all at home or in bars watching the game.) Yesterday was also a bit difficult. But today is looking great! We have a lot of good visits scheduled and a lot of solid plans on how we are going to help these people.

Alicia continues to progress very well. Her biggest challenge currently is that she is VERY smart and is greatly enjoying the Book of Mormon on an intellectual level, but needs to come to know with her mind and her heart that it's true. Other than that, she eats up everything and is very concerned about applying the gospel of Jesus Christ to her personal, everyday life.

Luchi's family is also doing well. They came to church this last Sunday. Getting people to come to church Sunday morning is often quite difficult, as sleep and laziness usually impede them from doing so. To counteract this, we came up with a new idea for helping our investigators get to church: eat breakfast with them beforehand! We tried this first with some investigators, but it didn't work because the main investigator wasn't home and his wife was very willing to eat our pancakes... but not so willing to go to church. :S However, the second time, we were met with success! We made crepes for Luchi's family and took them to them an hour before church started. We had a fun breakfast with them, then all went together to church. It was especially good because last Sunday was the primary program, and Alvaro, one of Luchi's sons, participated in the singing! (he'd come for the previous two Sundays so he'd been in the rehearsals). It was a great experience for them and it really strengthened their testimonies. Today we'll be meeting and teaching an overview of the commandments, along with watching the Restoration movie. We're planning on bringing popcorn to keep Roger, the 5-year-old son, occupied and behaved (which is a challenge sometimes). They're all really great, especially Alejandro and Alvaro, the 12 and 11-year-old sons, and we're very confident that they will make their date.

Elder Holub and I are officially in the Holiday Spirit! Last Thursday, we were a bit sad because it looked like we weren't going to be able to do anything even remotely traditional for Thanksgiving, and we had visits planned all day, so we were just ready to forget about it. But an "anonymous" member left us a fantastic surprise bag of American treats and goodies, and a less-active member later invited us over for a delicious Dominican Republic-style Thanksgiving, with real turkey and everything! It was a great day. The people here are so nice! Elder Holub's mom sent him a package with a nice nativity set and a little Christmas tree with all of the fixings to deck it with. We've started playing our Christmas CDs without restraint, and today we're planning on buying a leg of Jamon (basically a big, cured pig leg. Mmmm! P:) I'll take pictures.

By the way, a shout out to Elder Holub's mother: Your son is one of the greatest missionaries I have ever met. He has been raised well and he has a very strong work ethic and an even stronger testimony. He is really grateful to you for the decisions you've made that have affected his upbringing and knowledge. You really are his heroine.

Well, that's all the time I have today. Thanks so much for everything! I'm still going on those four boxes of cereal you sent me. I calculate that I have about enough left for another week-and-a-half of Post and General Mills bliss, then it's back to the Spanish regimen. I love you all!

-Elder Knorr

"It's been a great week, with lots to tell."

2010-11-24T08:39:00.003-07:00

Hello everyone! It's Elder Knorr. I'm doing well here in Villalba. It's been a great week, with lots to tell.

Firstly, we were contacting in the morning last Friday (I think) and we met a woman named Alicia, a Spaniard woman in her late 40's early 50's. To our surprise, she was interested in listening and agreed to meet later that very same day. She's been taught twice now and she really likes the gospel, the Book of Mormon, and the Church in general. We set a baptismal date in the first visit, and she's doing great! She has apparently worked in marketing a lot of her life, but she is now studying civil law (derecho) and wants to try and get in to that. We bumped into her last night in the street and she expressed her desire to have a bigger perspective than just the worldly and material. Today at 3:30 we'll be teaching her about the Plan of Salvation. I'm excited because I know it's just what she's looking for.

Another cool experience that ought to tickle Stephanie Raymond's fancy: When I was on exchanges with Elder Ottesen the Monday before last, we contacted a man named Isaac. At first he was unresponsive to our words, but finally saw us and motioned that he was deaf. A lot of people who we approach on the street pretend that they're deaf, so at first we didn't believe him, but we were soon convinced. We used a pamphlet of the Restoration to explain to him, using words and sentences written in it, what it was that we were there to do, and I wrote him a message asking if he would be interested in having us come by later. He agreed and wrote down his name and phone number. We communicated for the next few days via text messaging, and then visited with him on Saturday.

When we went there, we met his wife, Andrea, who is also deaf. They are both from Chile, and we had a nice visit, communicating through gestures, things written to each other in a notebook that I had brought with me, and some Spanish Sign Language that they taught me. I learned how to say prophet, give, receive, God, Jesus Christ, family, friend, child, brother, the same, more, less, best, love, want, thank you, you're welcome, teach, witness, Saturday, Sunday, intelligent, all, see you later, and several other things. It was a nice visit but we weren't able to share much of our message because of the difficulty of communication. To be prepared for the next visit, I asked a member of the ward to do a little research and print out some gospel terminology in sign language for us. Remember how I included that request in the last email for advice from Stephanie? I would have really liked to have gotten that today! There are so many aspects of the gospel that I do not know how to apply to a deaf person, for instance, how do they pray? How do they enjoy church if everything is spoken or sung? They are both really great people and I feel that they would be interested in learning more about the gospel, but my knowledge is lacking in this area. We'll have our next visit before I can get a response from you, but if you could send me a bit of information in the next email, that would be fantastic. Thank you!

Other than that, there's not much going on. We taught a Russian the other day, and we'll be teaching a man from Pakistan today. He speaks Urdu, but he said that he understands English well enough to read and understand, so we won't have to try to find a Book of Mormon in Urdu for him to read. Whew! :) I've had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world here in Spain, but boy would I just love to meet more Spaniards! :\ We'll see.

In other news, I'm planning on making Hidden Valley Ranch Crispy Chicken today. It seems to be a worthy alternative to my specialty fried chicken, but it's baked instead so it's much healthier. We'll see how it turns out. Now that I'm a free-range missionary again, I have time to cook and eat good food, so I'm going to try and sharpen my cooking repertoire in the meantime.

I went on exchanges to Segovia two days ago, something that was very nice. We visited a lot of recent converts and less-active members that I had known and taught them doctrines to try and get them to go back to church and endure to the end. It was nice to see those people and to have a positive influence in their lives again.

Sounds like everything's going well back in Utah, with family and friends and the like. Thanksgiving Dinner will be somewhat tragic this year. We're going to eat lunchmeat turkey with mashed potatoes. We haven't been able to think of a substitute for turkey gravy yet, so we're more or less at a standstill in that regard. As for stuffing, we haven't the slightest clue how to start, so we'll probably leave that untouched. It definitely won't measure up to last year's glorious thanksgiving dinner, but it'll be alright. I have lots to be thankful for, in any case. Maybe I'll make fried chicken.Well, that's about all I've got this week. It was fun. Thanks for the emails, love, packages, prayers, letters and thoughts. I love you! Happy Thanksgiving.

-Elder Knorr

Hello everyone! Things are still going well here in Villalba.

2010-11-17T06:57:00.003-07:00

Winter is well on its way as we've had a good number of rainstorms and windstorms and sunshowers and just all around cold. It's all very reminiscent of a year ago when I was in this same region in Segovia and experiencing similar weather. All in all, however, the experience is much different, owing to the large differences between Villalba and Segovia as proselyting areas.

We continue to have remarkable success when it comes to finding people to teach. There are a lot of people willing to listen, and all we have to do is open our mouths and speak with as many people as possible to find them. We find a lot of new investigators who are willing to learn more. Of course, they all have varying levels of genuine interest, but we do our part to help them understand the importance of the message and what God expects of them.

Actually, this last week I realized something for the first time: I can now honestly say that I am "myself" in the lessons. It's something that's been so hard for me to do, because of the difficulty with expressing myself in the language, teaching new gospel principles, and just meeting brand new people all of the time. A lot of the time missionaries get into "robot mode" in lessons and forget to be themselves. But, in a lesson the other day with Jonatan, a young South American investigator, I truly felt like I was myself, just teaching and explaining gospel principles. I'm really glad that I've finally achieved this, and it's something that I am going to have to continue to work at, but it was refreshing to finally unite my past with my present in that way.

We have several investigators right now, but all seem to have challenges when it comes to their progress in the gospel. Walter and Noa, a young couple, have been trying to give up smoking (especially Noa) but we think that she's fallen again and is embarrassed about it and doesn't want us to know. Luis, an investigator who was supposed to get baptized this Saturday, didn't show up to his baptismal interview even though the Zone Leaders from Madrid made the trip up to Villalba just for that. We're thinking he might need some more time, but it's getting hard because this is the second time we've psyched everyone out on his baptism and I think it might be hurting his drive to get baptized. He didn't really have a good excuse for missing the interview... And then there's Natalia, who has a testimony and wants to get baptized but has one little problem: getting up on time to get to Church. So simple, yet so impeding. Thus is missionary work in Villalba lately.

We do, however, have one investigator who is totally unstoppable. His name is Carlos. He's about 30 years old, a Spaniard, married to a Bolivian woman named Nereyda, and they have a little son named Sergio. We found Carlos by mistake. We were walking around and we met Nereyda as she sat on a bench and watched Sergio play in the park. We approached her and began talking to her about the Gospel. She invited us to sit down and teach her right there, so we did! She seemed to have moderate interest in hearing more, so she gave us her address and phone number and we set up a return visit. We passed by a few days later to check in and confirm the visit, and guess who answers the door? Carlos. He eagerly invited us in and began to talk about how he'd met with missionaries extensively a few months before and how he was all ready to get baptized, but the military called him and he hadn't been home for a while. We set up a new baptismal date with him right there and let him know what it would take to get there, and he was totally willing to give it his all. The only obvious obstacle for him at this point is smoking, but I think we'll be able to work with him on that. Nereyda doesn't have the same level of eagerness to get baptized as he does, but neither is she opposed to listen, so I think she has some good potential as well.

One big problem we're facing right now is that our phone is almost out of saldo. Cell phone service in Spain works on the principle of a "Saldo Limit," which means that a certain amount is set at the beginning of the month and once that limit is reached, the phone no longer makes calls (though it can still receive for a time). There are no overage charges because there is no possibility of going over. However, missionary work is very hard to do in this day and age without a phone. We need to contact references, set up lessons, confirm visits, coordinate with members, and communicate with mission leaders. On the 12th of the month, we received a text message informing us that we had used 65% of our saldo. We called in to the office to ask for an increase, and it was granted, but we need to find a more long-term solution to this problem. We already do everything we know how to do to be efficient with our saldo, but it's hard. We'll keep trying to figure it out.

Anyway, this was a rather newsy, report-like email, but I hope you've liked it anyway. I've been enjoying the scrumptious breakfast cereals I got last week. :) Joy! Thank you very much. I've also been putting the Tootsie Rolls to good use, keeping them in my coat pocket to give to members and investigators so that they can have a "taste of America." They've been a big hit.

Thanks for everything! I love you all a lot.

-Elder Knorr

P.S. We will be teaching a deaf man on Saturday. Could you communicate with Stephanie Raymond and ask her for some tips? I know the sign language differs, but if she could give me some insight into how deaf people would view the Gospel, I would be very grateful (for instance, how do they pray in meetings?). Thanks!

Hello

2010-11-10T19:44:00.002-07:00

It's me, a somewhat tired Elder Knorr.

It's been a busy last two days. I went up to Madrid for a companionship exchange, beginning Monday morning, and it's lasted 2 days. This morning, we ended it by going up to Segovia for a Zone activity by bullet train. It was a fun activity, and it was nice to be in Segovia again, of course. However, I'm quite exhausted after so many consecutive days of unexpectedness and adventure. Not to mention that since we left the Madrid 1 apartment, I've been carrying around a 20 pound box of Libro de Mormon on my shoulder, or under my arm, or in front of me, etc., plus my two backpacks that I brought on exchanges. I'm a bit sore...

Rumors are that I've received a package while I was away and that it's waiting for me in the apartment. Only time will tell if these rumors are true.... :)

So yeah, Villalba is an awesome area. I thought I'd take some time to describe it to you.

Villalba is a small, uncelebrated, clean little town about 30 minutes from Madrid on the bus. It lies almost exactly halfway between Madrid and Segovia, on the Madrid side of the mountain range. Thus, it gets slightly warmer temperatures and not quite as much snow as the other side. It's population is mostly Spaniard, but with lots of South Americans (Colombians, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Bolivians, Paraguayans, Dominicans, etc.), and an relatively large number of Morrocans (Muslims). There is also a smattering of Bulgarians and Romanians. Most of the activity in the city happens on Calle Real, the main street that divides the city in half. A river runs through Villalba, but it isn't a very pretty river. There are often ducks floating in it and I've heard that river otters have been spotted there occasionally.

The ward in Villalba is impressive: a large compliment of Spaniard members with a good mix of South Americans as well. It has over a hundred people at sacrament meeting every week, and is well known for its outstanding musical talent. There are many members of all ages willing to accompany us to lessons and help us in missionary work. That, plus the good work done here by Elder Holub and Elder Meek, is the biggest reason for all of the success here lately. I hope to continue the tradition.

I've enjoyed this last week, though today specifically I will sing praises when it's time to go to bed (I'm very tired). In the meantime, I'll keep working hard, meeting new people, sharing the Gospel and doing my best to please the Lord. La vida es una lucha, but with the help of Christ and the ones we love, we can win.

Take care! Thank you for the letters that have been sent to me recently. I appreciate beyond words your love and support.

Until next time,

-Elder Knorr

Well, I'm not in Barrio 1, as I thought I would be.

2010-11-03T22:57:00.006-07:00

...Instead, I was sent to replace Elder Meek in Villalba, a small city north of Madrid. It just happens to be in the same district as.... Segovia! It's been somewhat eerie and surreal walking the same streets that I did on exchanges several times a year ago, and just to top off the weirdness, I went to Segovia today for preparation day and visited a few of the members and streets that I know so well. It was great, but, like I said, weird.

Villalba is an incredible area! When I got here, there were 7 people with baptismal dates! Since then, some have been adjusted, and others have been added. There are a lot of great people here: members, investigators, and everyone else. Sure, it's still hard work, but it is doable. I have a great companion, Elder Holub, who is incredibly focused and hard-working, and also super optimistic.

It's great being out of the office and being able to work full time again. I've missed being able to focus purely on missionary work. No more residency trips! No more empadronamiento [census] checks! No more email-sorting, file-organizing, or report-preparing! No more embassy-registering, contract-negotiating, or reference-forwarding. Just good old missionary work. Talk about a breath of fresh air. :)

We have some neighbors who are friends of ours who live down the hall: Ana María, and her kids Joaquín and María Jo. They're from Peru, but they lived in the United States for a long time and are now big fans of Halloween. Before I came here, they had been decorating ours and their apartment doors with paper pumpkins and ghosts, and spider webs. So, the day of Halloween came and we decided to dress up a bit for the kids (who both speak perfect English and really like us). I dressed up as a basic vampire and my companion was a rudimentary mummy. We also made "Monster Brownies" for them, complete with candy eyeballs and teeth, and took them over. It was fun. I'll send a picture of the dress-up, but the picture of the doors and brownies will have to wait.

Life is good. I'm in an apartment with just two of us again, so it gets a little lonlier than it did before. The weather is getting a bit cold, rainy and windy. I like it. Soon I'll be able to wear my awesome trenchcoat again. In the meantime, we've just been wearing light jackets.

I love you all and am glad to be a missionary. We have to go grocery shopping now, but know that I'm doing fine and that I plan on writing some letters to my favorite family on earth soon.

Later!
-Elder Knorr

News about Elder Knorr from a recently returned missionary!

2010-10-31T21:22:00.003-07:00

Elder Pedersen, former Assistant to the President, told his mom about some of the missionaries he knew. This is what he said about Elder Knorr.

"Elder Knorr: He sings very well. All the missionaries love Elder Knorr. He's very patient and helpful. He's quick to be patient and nice. Doesn't lose his temper."

Fresh Pictures!

2010-10-27T19:09:00.006-07:00

Me brushing my teeth

Our district last transfer

A zone leaders meeting (right after we all got stuck in the same elevator)

Me hugging a rock at La Pedriza

The five elders of our piso

Inside the castle wall

The castle and the lake

The lake, and the castle

Elders Bartholomew, Driggs, and León, bundled up against the cold

"band picture"

Me down one of the corridors

Inspecting the armor

A spiral staircase

The castle at sunrise

"I know where I'm going!"

2010-10-27T07:31:00.005-07:00

Hello, it's me! Elder Knorr! Writing again to inform all of my general state of well-being.

First, I'll start with the biggest news. I'm going back to Barrio 1! Crazy, eh? I'll be in a trio with Elder Cerro, and Argentinian from the Canary Islands, and Elder Tyndale-Biscoe, a half-British, half-Spaniard new elder who's lived in southern Spain for a good amount of time. I've been frankly shocked ever since I got the news last night that I would be moving. I wonder what it will be like to go back and work in the very same area that I started in... Knowing what I know now about Spanish and missionary work, I should be able to do more. I can't help but fear, however, that I will regress. I don't know, it's an odd feeling. I guess all I need to do is work hard and trust in God, and everything will work out just fine. I can't help but face this transfer with slightly higher-than-normal apprehension and nerves. Transfers are always weird experiences.

Secondly, OH MY WORD!!!! ISAAC IS ENGAGED?? :O :O :O :O :O :O Crazy! That would be the first of my close friends to be engaged. When I read that, I was once again shocked beyond all reason. I know that my age group is approaching that stage of life, but still... it's a very large shock to hear. Congratulations, bud! Send me an announcement.

Wow, how original, Knorr Family. Another Honda Civic. Wow. Now that's a real shocker. :\ At least you haven't doubled-up on colors yet, but silver, gray, and brownish gray isn't exactly what I'd call a "plethora" of hues.

It's good to hear that people in my family are doing great things. I mean, obviously Megan would rise to greatness, but it's nice to hear that she's already started. I'd like to get a picture of the painting, if possible. And it's good to hear that Ethan's doing well. Yes, finally doing a spook alley! That's been a Knorr Family dream for as long as I can remember, but we never quite went through with it. I guess it just took Ethan's drive and initiative to get it done. Plus, now that we have the strobe light, we have a useful tool that we didn't before, right? I really was floored when I saw the pictures you sent me last week. Both Ethan and Megan look like they've grown up so much! It's crazy. I guess that's what I get for removing myself from the picture for two years, especially as they're both growing so much. But it's good to hear that everyone's doing well.

Today we went to La Pedriza, which is a natural park just north of Madrid. There were a lot of big boulders that we climbed up and down on, and we had a fun time. I really like doing nature hikes as a missionary. It's a good, wholesome change of pace that reminds me of the greatness of nature and God. We also visited a classic castle in Manzanares el Real, situated by a glossy lake at the foot of La Pedriza. I took lots of pictures and we had a good time.

Things are going well. We keep working hard, and doing our best. We found a man named Milton the other day, and the last visit we had with him, we set a baptismal date. He's really good! We will keep working with him and will help him reach his goal of baptism.

I love you all. Thanks for all of the support and love you always show me. I anxiously await the package and all of its goodness. :) Take care.

-Elder Knorr

Training New Mission Secretary, Elder Driggs

2010-10-20T05:11:00.005-07:00

Elder Knorr is doing well here in Alcobendas. Elder Driggs, my new companion, has arrived. We're in a trio now in the office as I train Elder Driggs to do my job. We're not sure exactly how long it's all going to take, but he's a very fast learner so I think he'll be trained and good to go in no time and I'll be OUT OF HERE!!! WOOOO!!!! :D Back to the field, full-time! I've noticed a lot of things that I've been missing as an office elder: the opportunity to cook good meals, working in the mornings, extra language study time, being able to focus 100% on my investigators and my sacred calling, and not have to worry about other things. I also miss being able to walk around all day (as strange as it sounds). The car is comfortable, but I miss being outside.

On the other hand, there will be some things I will miss about the office. It's odd, but I've grown to love all of the missionaries in the mission a lot as I've served them. I've learned that the key to loving someone is to serve them (something I already knew, but something I've re-learned here). I've also liked being at the "center" of everything, being able to be in the middle of the crisis and plans and all of that. I think I'll probably miss all of the business of the office, though I know that was something I complained about before. It's really strange, isn't it? The grass always seems to be greener on the other side. All I know is that I was happy before I came into the office, just doing normal missionary work, and I'll be happy to go back to that. The office has taught me a lot of things.

On a related note, I'll also miss the ward and the area. Alcobendas is an incredible place to work. There are so many people! I've learned how to open my mouth and truly talk with as many of them as possible. That's something that I'm going to have to take with me to my next area, for sure. I've also really grown to love a lot of the members here, especially Freencky. He's really one of the missionaries (he goes with us to all kinds of visits). He's a great friend of ours. I'll miss him, and his whole family, a whole lot. Also, there are many other members and families that I've grown to love here that I will miss. That's how it always seems to be, though. I'll miss them, but life must go on and I'm sure that I'll meet more wonderful people. Ah, transfers. Always different, always the same.

[Elder Knorr's family has the following requests covered, but anyone's always welcome to send packages too.]

I have a few requests for the next package (whatever it may be): Deodorant. I ran out of yankee deodorant (namely Speed Stick Irish Spring Icy Blast, my personal favorite). Without it, I'm once again relegated to use the woefully ineffective Spanish brands. I'm going to try buying some different stuff today, but I confess that I seek without faith or hope. I need more good deodorant, for my companion's, my piso-mates', and my investigators' sake. I can survive for a while, but eventually not even I will be able to bear my own stink. Also, I realized that I like yankee candy, but what I really want is a few compacted and rolled-up bags of Honey Bunches of Oats, Lucky Charms, and Peanut Butter Crunch. Maybe even Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Breakfast cereals are of a very limited variety here. Besides that, I just want more pictures of my family.

Now that I'm done being "needy," I'll talk a bit about our current investigators. We found a great, young Peruvian couple a week ago and have taught them twice. They are really interested in learning more. Also, we've found a good handful of other investigators, with varied amounts of real interest and desires. We'll see who accepts our invitations, goes through with their commitments, and comes to church.

I got a letter from my family, including the most recent school pictures of Ethan and Megan. Wow, they look so much older! Especially Ethan, my word! I really enjoyed all of the letters and the nice things that were said. Thanks so much!

I love you all very much, and I'm glad to hear from you and of you. Take care.

Until next time,

-Elder Knorr

Pictures - Elder Driggs [new mission secretary trainee] and Elder Anderson, sweating it out in the office. Welcome to the jungle, my friend! >:D

Leaving the Office...and PICTURES!!!

2010-10-13T22:01:00.008-07:00

Hello Family and friends! This is Elder Knorr, your favorite Spanish Missionary (and that is now an uncontested title because Elder Ogden is now home).

I'm using a rather dysfunctional computer that has a half-broken space bar, so I'm sorry if this one is shorter than normal. I now relate with the difficulty Mormon experienced as he tried to engrave his words on metal plates. My words will be few, but I will try to make them valuable.

It was a rather good week. We are now making all of the arrangements for transfers. We know who is going where now, which reminds me....I'm leaving the office! Yes, it's wonderful, I'll finally be out in the normal field again to work as missionaries do. My replacement, Elder Driggs, will be coming from up north to be trained to do my job. I'm looking forward to slipping back into a pure missionary life without having to worry so much about the extra and unique stresses of the office.

We went to Guadalajara early this week in order to take care of some residency papers. It was a fun road trip. Today, we visited Toledo and got to see the sights, go to some museums, and take some pictures. So it's been a week of traveling and road trips.

About Freencky, he actually got rejected at the airport due to visa issues and they made him fly home. It was good to see that he was still with us, but he's been going through a lot of stress and disappointment lately due to that. He loves the United States just as much as we do (he grew up there) and he was really looking forward to getting to go back. Fortunately, he still comes to visits with us, which I'm sure takes his mind off of it to some extent.

The seasons are changing here. As my companion and I ate some nectarines today, we noticed that their quality was waning. Soon it will be time for oranges and the nectarines and peaches will disappear. It's been cold enough for the past few days that we have been obliged to put on our jackets and long sleeve shirts. It's strange to think that I may never work in just slacks again...

I had the chance to go back to Barrio 4 and Barrio 2 during companion exchanges this week. I worked with Elder Oscanoa in Barrio 4 and introduced him to a bunch of less active members that I had taught during my time there and that he had never met before. I also had the opportunity to be there for one of Barrio 2's baptisms in the morning. (This is a story of its own.)

I remember several months ago, Elder Benson and I were working in Barrio 2, in the big city of Madrid. We were walking away from a great lesson, after having set a baptismal date with José Alfredo, when we ran into an elderly woman on the street. We introduced ourselves, and she responded well. Her name was Ana María, and she was a Spaniard woman born of German parents. We took her name and number and set up a time to visit. A few days later, I was transferred to the office.

Ana María was baptized last Saturday, and I had the opportunity to be there to witness it!

It has been strange for me to think about how what to me was nothing more than a brief but good contact in the street that day has now become a baptism. I was not there for any part of her teaching, I did not take her to church or follow up on any of her reading or other commitments, but she was ready for the Gospel and the Lord needed me to find her. He didn't need me to teach her or to commit her, just to find her. Had I not opened my mouth and spoken with Ana María, she never would have gotten to where she is now. This is an example of what one contact can do.

We found some really good investigators this week, investigators that had been taught before in the past and had some obstacles, but are now willing and ready to fully accept the Restored Gospel. It's very exciting. They are Beatríz, David, Diana, and Leo.

Well, that's just about all the time I have. Thanks for all that you do to help me fulfill my calling as a full-time missionary. I'm loving it! Take care, I love you.

-Elder Knorr

(P.S. There is a letter coming soon, and it is just for Mom and Dad.)

Pictures!!!
Sebastian, Dean and I,
taken when I went to visit Barrio 4
The photographer of Photo 1
Our trip to Toledo today The Cathedral of Toledo
Shackled in the Prison!

Working our Hardest, General Conference Ponderings, Residency Close Calls, and........ PICTURES!!!

2010-10-06T18:05:00.015-07:00

Things are going well for me. I've been trying to work in the area as much as possible, despite our office duties. Things have gotten a lot harder in our proselyting. People just seem less and less willing to listen every day. It's a bit discouraging, but we know that we won't ever have success here if we don't keep working our hardest, so... we keep working our hardest! :)

General Conference was very good. Probably my favorite so far up to this point. I was disappointed to have missed Elder Bednar´s talk in the last session, but I'll get it soon enough. Elder Holland didn't quite fulfill my expectations (I was expecting another explosive talk about angels or the Book of Mormon or about virtue. Instead, I got a "Thanks Talk"). I mean, it wasn't a bad talk at all, but it was a bit of a let down from that hellfire and brimstone streak he was on. I very much enjoyed Elder Oaks' talk about the two lines of communication with God. That answered a lot of questions that I personally had about the relationship between prophets (Priesthood line) and inspiration (personal line). I learned that it's really supposed to be a balance of the two. Neither makes the other one obsolete or unnecessary. It was an eye-opening talk. I also very much enjoyed President Monson's talk on Sunday Morning (Sunday Night for me). It was truly powerful, as was his talk in the Priesthood session. After the talk, I was so moved that I could not deny that he is a Prophet of God. It was a very good one.

We've had a few minor crises with the whole residency issue. Fortunately, everyone's on track now, but it was scary for awhile. We were worried that some wouldn't survive. There needs to be a reform as far as our residency process goes.

Well, that's all that I've got for now. Besides General Conference, it's been a fairly average week. Has Freencky contacted you guys yet? He flew on Monday, I imagine he should be there by now. Let me know if you see him. Actually, take a picture of you all together and send it to me in my email.Speaking of which, I'll attach some pictures to this one! I love you all, take care!

-Elder Knorr

My companion
Me, Dani and Alfonso, friends and investigators (disregard how fat I apparently am)

Elder Bartholomew tickling Elder León

A sunset
Elder León "meditating"
Freencky, with Farrah his twin sister

Check Out New Slideshow

2010-10-02T08:02:00.002-07:00

Look to the right...

Current Area - Madrid Mission Office

It contains all the pictures he's sent home lately.

Thank you for the kindness and support you've given Elder Knorr on the first 18 months of his mission.

TomToms and Strikes and Pitbulls...Oh My!

2010-09-29T05:36:00.004-07:00

Hello, it's Elder Knorr. I've had quite an interesting week since I last wrote. Let's see if I can remember it all...

First off, we got a TomTom (a little navigational device that we use to find our way around Madrid and the outlying cities while driving in the car). It is a useful little device that is compact, intuitively designed, and very helpful in a world of one-way streets, confusing signs and endless roundabouts. Up until now, we haven't been very efficient in our navigating, leading to many cases of getting lost and stressed and getting to things late. But those days are over! We got it a few days ago and just put it in the car yesterday. We customized the voice to be an Irish Female, and named her Maggie. :)

Secondly, that TomTom came in very handy yesterday as we took a crazy adventure road trip to Madrid to try and do residency for two elders. The plan was to pick up a missionary from Gijón in the train station, take him to Aluche to do his residency along with another one coming in from Alcorcón (and his companion). When we arrived, we waited in a long line. When we got to the front and they started helping us, they said that both of the missionaries hadn't paid a necessary fee yet (a minuscule fee of 15.30 euros each) and that they couldn't help us until we had the fees paid. We tried to pay it there, but they said that they couldn't do that and that we'd have to have the transaction made at a bank. Trouble is, in Spain, banks are only open from 10 to 2 and it was 4:30. That pretty much killed our residency plans for the day. So, we tried to call and get the money back for Elder Kay's ticket back to Gijón, but they told us it was too late to cancel it. We ended up just making plans for him to stay another day in Madrid, so that we could pay the fee and get it over with, but we forgot that there was a massive strike that was going to happen the next day (now today) in which all public transportation would be shut down and the streets would be packed with desperate commuters. We decided, rather than try to deal with that, we would wait yet another day and just do it Thursday. So, that's our current plan. It's been crazy for all of us. In fact, the only thing that was reliable yesterday was Maggie, our trusty Irish companion. She didn't get us lost once! :)

Something else happened that was very, very different this week. :) I hope none of you judge me. So, we have an investigator who is a devout Catholic, but open to listen to the Gospel and read and all of that. We had been trying to get him to church for a few weeks, and finally, he said "I'll go to your church if you go to mine first." I briefly considered it and agreed (anything to get him to church, right?). So, at 9 Sunday morning we went to the Catholic Mass. We showed up right on time and sat in one of the back rows. It was very interesting, and very different. It was good in that they spoke a lot about Jesus Christ and read passages from the Bible. We didn't know any of the memorized prayers or hymns so we just stayed silent for those parts, but we did stand up and sit down with the rest of them. Anyway, afterwards, Pablo came to church with us. I think he liked it. Unfortunately, I think one of the members might have offended him by saying something bad about Catholics after the meeting. Yeah. Very, very, very frustrating. We'll talk about it with him in our next visit.

In other news, two nights ago we were walking around, doing some final contacts before going to bed. We spotted a woman walking towards us, walking two dogs. We didn't pay much attention to the dogs at first and we went in to talk with her. She looked up at us and with a stern expression said "No." Now, we get that a lot, and we usually keep trying after the original "no," but something was different about hers, almost as if she was rejecting us for our own protection. We started talking to her, and all of the sudden the two dogs began barking at us and growling and snapping. They were two, HUGE pitbulls with steel muzzles on, and if they hadn't been leashed or muzzled, I'm sure they would have tried to kill us. She was a lady in her late 40's and it was everything she could do to keep the dogs held back. She finally got them to stop barking and lunging at us, and we parted. After that, our adrenaline was waaaaaay high! It was definitely the most terrifying dog experience I've ever had.

Alright, well, those are all of the exciting stories I've got for now. I'm sorry for the lateness of recent letters. Since Preparation Day last week was on a Thursday, I sent them Friday and I doubt they got anywhere before the mail system shut down over the weekend. Plus, with this strike, I'm sure things will get slowed down again. I'm sorry for anyone who might be wondering.

As for incoming mail, I was blessed to receive a letter from Kristen this last week. It ended what felt like a long drought of no letters and was very nice to get.

General Conference is coming up, and I'm excited to get to go and enjoy the word of the Lord. General Conference is always a happy, cheerful occasion here in the mission. We all gather to the closest broadcasting locations (which, in the case of all Madrid missionaries and several others is the Temple Stake Center), and get to enjoy wonderful talks and music and also the company of our mission buddies. We eat lunch there, get to be near the Temple, and all around have a good time.

It's good to hear about the family and how they're all doing. I think I might try running a marathon when I get back (I'll have to train, of course). So, Ethan finally got an XBox. Was it an XBox 360? Sounds very fun.

Hey, there's a member here named Freencky (pronounced Franky) who is 19 years old and is moving to Utah soon with his mom. He was born in Venezuela to parents from Spain and the Dominican Republic, he was raised in New York, and he's spent the past couple of years here in Spain. He speaks English perfectly, and with a New Yorker accent. He's a convert and he'll be leaving soon on a mission. Freencky is a really good friend of mine. He's always going out to teach with us and help us contact as well. He's every missionary's dream-member! :) Anyways, he'll be coming down to Utah (probably Orem or Provo) and I'd love for you to meet him and his mom (be advised, she speaks no English). I'm going to give him our home address and phone number so he can pass by and meet my wonderful family! :) If I'm not mistaken, he's flying Monday so he'll be there next week. Expect a call!

Well, I need to go now. I love you all and I hope you all do well this week. Remember, the Lord lives and He loves us. Don't let up on the little things (scripture study, prayer, church attendance.) Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

Hello! It's me, Elder Knorr. I'm doing fine.

2010-09-23T16:33:00.004-07:00

I didn't get stuck in any elevators this week, which was a nice change. :) And my companion and I have been getting a lot done in the office.

This week, my companion has had a leadership training he's had to go to for the last three days in the mornings. He's been going with President, and I've stayed here with Elder Jewell so I can keep getting things done in the office. Due to these trainings, Preparation Day was changed to Thursday (because one of the meetings was Wednesday morning) so that's why I'm writing a day late.

I got references cleared out this week! :) It was hard, but I got it done and now I feel a lot better. I also developed a folder system on my cell phone to receive and organize incoming references, have sent out mail to several areas and missionaries, and helped some missionaries with their residency. All in all, it's been a bit crazy. But we're almost through the madness (I always seem to say that, don't I? And right then more madness shows up.)

I really don't have that much to share this week. We've just spent a lot of time trying to get office business taken care of, something that we have not been able to do to the extent necessary for the past several weeks.

We still get out and contact/teach a lot. We keep finding new people to teach, in spite of frequent rejection on the street and those people who don't outright reject, but rather give us false numbers and addresses. We have an investigator named Alfonso, a 17-year-old Spaniard, who we've taught several times. He must really like the Church because he keeps inviting more and more friends to come meet us and listen to our message. It's crazy! It seems every other time we meet, we're meeting another one of his Spanish friends. We must have met a million of them by now! We love it, it's given us a lot of people to teach. Teaching someone our own age is something really different. We're used to teaching adults or elderly people who want to learn about God, so teaching someone around our own age is a big change. Actually, later today we're going to go to the chapel together and play some board games (Settlers of Catan) to get to know some more of his friends and invite them to listen to the lessons. The work is really good right now.

Other than that, I don't think there's anything else. I'm just working hard, trying to be perfectly obedient, keeping the mission from imploding, and loving being a missionary. Thanks for the great letters and emails. They help me keep strong. I love you all and hope that this email finds you happy and healthy and all of that.

I remain, as ever, your humble servant,

-Elder Knorr

Letters Home!

2010-09-20T18:59:00.010-07:00

"Dear Dad, the Initiator of the Knorr Office [office missionary] Dynasty,

Well, here I am! Whodathunk? Elder Knorrs must be very "official" because this makes #2. We're two-for-two, as it were. Well, I suppose this opens up a whole world of things we can talk about; I'm sure you're dying to know how a mission office is run these days. Let's start with the basicos:

Residency. I think it works more or less the same in all countries. In Spain, a visa is necessary to enter the country. Now, before the visado expires, the person needs to get fingerprinted and submit certain papers in order to get a residency card (which only lasts for 1 year). 90 days before the first card expires, the process must be started to get another one. On the second card, pretty much all missionaries will make it 'til the end of their mission. (There are, of course, ALWAYS exceptions and emergencies.) If a missionary's card expires and 3 months roll by, we get a nice little letter at the mission office telling us that so-and-so has to leave the country in 15 days. Yup. Ouch. There are a few more requirements, ins-and-outs and hangups, but that's the basic idea. Sound familiar? [Christopher hasn't had one deported and hopefully never will.]

Then there's References. The mission office is the hub for references that go to other missionaries. Nowadays the missionaries can just send references to other areas by text messages, so we don't have to deal with those anymore. I need to organize them, send them out, and keep tabs on them until they're sent back as "contacted."

Besides that, the Assistants and I do numbers for the mission which we send in weekly to Church headquarters. And I'm in charge of routing email to its intended recipient. It's fun :)

So, there are a few other things. I seem to be the "go-to-if-you-have-an-unresolvable-crisis" guy, so that keeps my blood pressure levels from getting too low. I'm also in on a lot of "transfer secrets," so I'm learning to be very confidential.

Your missionary son,
Elder Knorr"

_________________

To Megan:

"So, being an office worker is fun but challenging. Computers are really useful for organizing information. Ha, and I used to think that they were for movies and games and music and internet. I laugh at those now. Computers are for making spreadsheets that look this [drawing of spreadsheet] and keeping track of all of the residency information of 140 missionaries. Isn't that great?!?!"

__________________

To Ethan:

"Today is September 1st. That means I have been in the mission for a year and five months! A long time. I like being a missionary, it's really fun! It's the coolest thing I've ever done and it has been a big adventure. Now I'm in the mission office, which is really different. I have to do a lot of things to keep the mission going and keep things working correctly. I've never had so much responsibility, I'm sure it's good practice for future job or whatever...I miss being able to hang out with my awesome little brother. I want to chill with you a lot when I get home, we'll have a lot of fun. but for now, I've got a lot of missionary work to do over here. Take care, Number One.

Your missionary brother,
Elder Knorr"

Elevator Mishap! and a Super Sabbath!!

2010-09-15T05:57:00.012-07:00

This has been quite an exciting week.

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

Keeping the Flame Alive!

2010-09-08T06:11:00.005-07:00

Hello family and friends and all. Keeping the flame alive! It's been a good week (albeit very busy). I've decided to tell you some of the crisis that we've resolved in the office this week. Before, just talking about them made me stressed, but now I've adjusted to it to the point that I can describe it in gnarly detail and don't even sweat once! :)

This week was transfers. We spent last week preparing, making the sheets, updating the databases (which still isn't completely done) and making travel plans for every single one of the missionaries who would be moving. I think I heard President say that about 30% of the mission got moved this transfer. I don't doubt it.

The real fun began Sunday night, when we went to the airport to pick up Elder Strickland who was flying in from the north. He was headed home the next day, so he was going to stay with the Assistants in Barrio 2. We drove him there and made a switch with the assistants, who had picked up Elder Woodland (also going home the next day). Elder Woodland stayed with us that night, and I slept on the couch (quite soft, but a few inches too short).

The next day, we took Elder Woodland to the Stake Center in Madrid and began doing the usual duties with departing missionaries (collecting extra money, collecting residency and credit cards, having them sign "dar de baja" documents, giving them temporary phones for the day, etc.) After that, we distributed letters, packages, and proselyting materials to the missionaries there, having planned ahead of time what to bring so that the largest portion of the mission got what they needed. After driving a few people around, we took the luggage of the departing missionaries to the mission home, dropped it off, went back to the office to take care of a few more miscellaneous things, then went to the mission home at night to try and print out the tickets for those flying the next day. That didn't end up working out, so we just gave up and went home for the night.

The next day, we woke up early again and headed to the office, then down to the Stake Center again to welcome in the incoming missionaries. Once again, we planned their trips and gave them all the tickets and information they would need to get to their destinations. It was refreshing to be in the presence of those new missionaries, all full of uncertainty, but also big dreams and desires. It reminded me how I was, and brought back those same feelings of wanting to conquer the world with the Gospel. Elder Porter, one of the new missionaries, wouldn't be leaving until a day later, so we decided to have him stay with us. We went and got something to eat at a turkish restaurant, then we went to the office so that I could get some work done. After a few hours, we went out to pick up Freencky (a 19-year-old member who is awesome and helps us a lot) and then we worked in two companionships for the rest of the night. Elder Anderson and Elder Porter were able to find 3 new young investigators, and Freencky and I went back to the office to finish up references. We got them all done! :) Once again, we had 5 people in the piso that night, so I opted to sleep on the ground with several blankets under me. I slept quite well.

Today at 12 we'll be going to the mission home to pick up some packages and then we'll be dropping Elder Porter off at 2 so he can catch his train, but after that, all of the transfer chaos should be over. It's been fun, and I'm quite satisfied with the amount of stuff we were able to accomplish this time around. We're slowly getting better at this whole thing.

As for proselyting, we managed to get quite a bit done this last week, despite the chaos of transfers. We set an aggressive goal for our district: 45 lessons and 500 contacts in total. At the end of the week, we got 51 lessons and about 470 contacts (just short of our goal) but I know that we definitely gave it our best.

Also, last Saturday the other elders had a baptism. It worked out really well, it was one of the happiest baptisms that I've ever seen. I really enjoyed it.

Sorry, I'm already out of time! We've had to do a lot of running around during this hour and it's been sabotaged a bit. But I love you all and I hope all is going well!

-Elder Knorr

NEW PHOTOS!!! Plus...Contacting, Residency Work, Secrecy, Garbage!

2010-09-01T05:44:00.008-07:00

Back to preparation day! Hello one and all! We've had a good week here in Alcobendas. Allow me to explain:

Empezaremos con lo primero: the work in the area, all goes well. We have been making big efforts when it comes to finding more people to teach, really "putting our shoulder to the wheel" and contacting a ton. Though we haven't had time to teach many lessons, we haven't let that keep us from working as hard as we can. There's an abundance of work to do in Alcobendas so we don't really have any excuses for not contacting all the time! Plus, there are a lot of people who give us their addresses and are willing to have us come by and teach them a gospel message. One of these days, I'm sure we'll find someone who is ready and willing to take the next steps.

Entering the last few days before transfers, our "office duties" have been extremely demanding this week. We are working hard to make all of the travel/residency arrangements for those who are moving. It's funny for me to compare how I used to certain aspects of the mission and how I now view them, working in the office (for instance, transfers.) Before I came here, transfers were kind of fun, and scary, and not knowing where I might go. It involved some stresses, but I had no idea. Now that I'm in the office, I know well ahead of time where everyone is going (2 to 3 weeks) and rather than wondering curiously as to where I might go, I'm just worried about fixing all of the residency and government documents for the moving missionaries, and my companion is focused on arranging travel plans and making sure everyone has the money or tickets or confirmation numbers they'll need. Besides that, It's been a bit of a stress, but we finally have everything figured out and sent off. However, there are still lots of little things we'll have to arrange and plan out to the finest point before the actual transfer happens this coming Monday. In other office things, I'm learning how to be more organized and punctual and effective. I still slip up sometimes, but I feel like I'm making strides.

Knowing now what all the transfers are, we have to maintain a thick cloak of secrecy around the "transfer secrets" so that no information gets out too soon. At times we have to obtain information from missionaries getting transferred, and have to do it in a way that doesn't arouse their suspicion *cue mission impossible music*. I've almost slipped up lots of times while talking to other missionaries, almost telling them sensitive transfer information, but so far we've done pretty well.

For the first time in weeks, it looks like it might rain today. I like sudden rainstorms in the middle of a hot summer; it helps cool things down a bit. Lately, it has been very hot. The fair of San Sebastián has been in full swing the past week, with partying all night every night. When we went to Church Sunday morning, we were stunned to see garbage all over the place. Seriously, remember that scene from Wall-E where the world is completely covered in garbage? It was much like that. I'll send a few pictures.

We've set aside a sizable portion of time today to just writing letters. It's been awhile since I've been able to catch up on my letter writing, and I feel kind of bad for that. I hope to write at least 6 today. In fact, besides the normal email, cleaning and grocery shopping, all of the other time is dedicated to just that! Last week we took care of chores like washing the car and such, but today we're going to be taking it easy. So take heart! Letters are on the way. :)

Well, that's about it that I've got for today. I'm glad that Megan's talk went well, and that Emily has found a new job (that isn't insane.) Plus, the steakhouse is named after some prehistorical Native Americans. Cool! :) Anyway, glad to hear that everyone is doing well and I'm sad to hear that the Odyssey has been sold. Lots of memories of fun, carsick road trips are attached to that vehicle! :)

I love you all and I hope to hear from you soon. I'm doing fine here, and I know that the Church is true.

-Elder Knorr

PHOTOS

People I know here in Alcobendas -

My companion Elder Anderson with the Seels at the temple

Elder Bartholomew and Elder Sauñé at El Escorial
Freencky and Farrah Portas (twin members of the ward). Freencky helps us a lot with missionary work.

Our Missionary District

Photo documentation of my grand HAIRCUT, given to me by the muy cariñosa Hermana Jewell.

BEFORE

AFTER
It turned out really well!

After the all-night party

Incredible.... they didn't seem to think anything of cleaning up after themselves...

It's been a crazy week, but we're alive and that's what's important!

2010-08-25T05:19:00.006-07:00

Hello everyone! It's good to hear that everyone is doing well. It's been a crazy week, but we're alive and that's what's important!

A few highlights: I got a wonderful package from Kristen! I think she sent me the perfect candies (if I'd been in an American Store, I would have chosen exactly the candies she sent me.) And of course, it's just nice to get a package and know that someone is thinking about you and cares. Yes, perhaps that sounds sentimental and cheesy, but so what?

I've also enjoyed receiving many other letters, including ones from my dear family. I have a plan set up to respond to all of the letters I've received in the next 2 to 3 weeks. We'll see how it goes! I have a lot of writing to do.

In other news, we continue to learn our jobs and work as hard as we can in the area (when we get a chance.) I finally got all of the References taken care of this week (of course, it's a never-ending stream, but at least I've gotten caught up. Now I just have to stay on top of it.) Also, for the first time in weeks, I cleared out the inbox! It was a satisfying moment. So, in many regards, things are getting better and more organized. I'm satisfied with my assignment and my level of dedication to it. I feel healthy and I attribute my high level of energy to getting enough sleep at night. As for the area, we've found many new investigators and made a record number of contacts for the area last week. We're just trying to do our best.

This preparation day, we drove early to the temple and have now returned right after. There's a lot to do back here in Alcobendas today, namely washing the car, grocery shopping, cutting our hair, writing letters, cleaning the piso, etc. We've made good plans to be able to get it all done before the end of today and I think we're capable of meeting that goal.

As for Megan's plan for the talk, I think it would be downright hilarious and actually quite effective. Whatever ends up happening, please let me know blow by blow so I can enjoy it too. And it's good to hear that the Knorr Kids are on top of the game as far as grades go. Just wait: next year you'll both be at the bottom of the food chain! :)

Yes, I heard that he caught Dengue Fever twice. Goodness, Xander, weren't you satisfied with catching it once? :) And I hope everything is going well in the re-adjustment for my two good friends Xander and Donny, who have recently experienced the worst loss of feeling of importance that they will probably ever experience in their lifetime. Believe me, that's something I'm not looking forward to. As secretary, I've been present for a few "going home" meetings and let me tell you, the feeling in those is far less than jubilant. Don't worry, guys, you're still as awesome as you ever were. Keep the mission habits. Don't forget how to speak the language. Congratulations for enduring to the end.

Well, that's all I have time for. I love you all!

-Elder Knorr

Mastering the Job, Awesome Investigators, American Store!

2010-08-18T22:25:00.005-07:00

Hello one and all from Alcobendas. It's been a good week. There is so much to do!

Well, that's scary about the forest fires in Galicia. And Mom, in all honesty, I don't think I'll be going north to Galicia. Elder Whitesides served here in the office for 10 months. If that's any indicator, it means this is my last area. I've kind of had to come to grips with that over the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, the flood of constant work from the office has kept my mind off of it, as have the many contacting and teaching opportunities here in Alcobendas. But yes, I accept that Alcobendas could me my last area and I'll be ending in the office. It won't be too bad if that happens, I suppose.

I'm slowly starting to master many aspects of my job (though some remain enormous looming monsters) and I'm getting a lot of work done and taken care of what should have been done a long time ago. We've been able to manage things in a timely manner and it seems that no one from our mission will have to go home due to residency issues. However, we are still behind and are fighting to get back up to speed.

In another arena, references have begun to stack up and have become a huge task. Sometimes missionaries will send me a name and a number of a person who doesn't live in their area, and I have to try to get a hold of them to see where they live. Other times, they'll just give a street name and a name and I have to do some detective work to see which elders the reference should go to. Multiply these cases by 50 each and you get an idea of what I have before me. I'm thinking that the system needs to change so that the missionaries themselves take more responsibility for their own references, but that's a project that's still pending.

In other news, we went to El Escorial today, a huge monastery/cathedral where over four centuries of Spanish Monarchy are buried. We went into the mausoleum and were impressed as we stood in a tall, round room and looked at the names and marble coffins of the kings and queens of the Spanish past. It was pretty cool, and awe-inspiring too.
As for the work here in Alcobendas, we are continually amazed by how many people there are here willing to listen and commit!

Last night, we set a baptismal date with a woman named Elvia for the 4th of September. She said that she had felt the Spirit in the church meetings and wanted to be baptized! :D

We also had a great experience with a 17-year-old Spanish atheist who sat down and listened to us on a bench right there, then came to a Family Home Evening activity a few days later. His name is Alfonso and we're teaching him again tonight. We're going to put a lot of emphasis on church to see if we can get him to come this Sunday. We'll see how it goes. He's a good guy.

Other stunning news: a block away from our apartment, we found an American-Filipino store. They opened up a week ago and are still getting things imported, but in that wondrous store we found A&W Root Beer, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Betty Crocker Cake, Brownie and Cookie mixes, Maple Syrup, Hershey's Syrup, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, all of which are IMPOSSIBLE to find in Spain! Sure it all comes at a slightly marked-up price, but I bought a box of Mac and Cheese which I just enjoyed this afternoon. Mmm, delicious! :)

Here they are chugging some rootbeer -

We're surviving quite well in our 4-man (built for 2) apartment. We position a fan right there in the window of the bedroom (which is also the front room and dining room and study room) and crank it up full blast as we sleep. By morning, things are almost chilly in there! Today I cleaned the bathroom with mucho cariño.

Well, that's about all there is to report on now, and all I have time for. Thanks for everything you do for me and help me with. I love you all lots!

-Elder Knorr

It is incredible how good the work is here in Alcobendas!

2010-08-11T19:45:00.013-07:00

Yes, I have already heard the "rumors" of Elder Zollinger´s engagement. I too find it quite staggering how quickly he went from girl-shunner to engaged. The mission changes people, though.

Well, well, well, what do I start with? I suppose I'll start with our proselyting this last week. We've been able to work a good amount of time in the field this week. It is incredible how good the work is here in Alcobendas! We worked only for a couple of evenings and have already found lots of investigators and had some great lessons! I find that I really miss working as a missionary, so when I get the chance I really go all-out.

We found a young family, Antonio from Spain and Clara from Paraguay. They're a good couple. She believes in God and belongs to a protestant church, and Antonio is Catholic but is willing to learn more if he can. They have two young daughters and a little baby boy, and we've had a good time teaching them. We had a good lesson with them where we talked about the Book of Mormon and how it can help us discover the truth. We have another lesson with them tomorrow.

We're also teaching a 17-year-old Colombian named Werner. He's got a bit of a rough appearance: pale, dyed black hair, piercings and chains, but he believes in God and is willing to meet with us and learn more. He works to support his family, because no one else in his family can find work. We had a good first lesson with him where we discussed Joseph Smith. He wants to know more about who Joseph Smith is and how he can know that he actually was a Prophet of God.

Besides that, we've been making a lot of contacts in the street, and going by old references to try and find someone to teach. We've been having good success in both fields finding new investigators. This is just an insanely good area! I wish I could spend more time working in it.

Elder Anderson and I are having fun as a companionship. We have a lot of similar likes and interests. He was a competitive swimmer, so he fits right into the "Knorr Pod." We enjoy getting lost in Madrid with our little blue car, while enjoying such musical pieces as "Jabberwocky" and "Lightning!" by the Northridge Choir.

Alright, now down to da nitty-gritty. The office has been ok this week. I finally feel like I'm starting to gain some control over my work (though many aspects are frankly uncontrollable). I'm learning the ropes and starting to really get a lot done. Early in the week we had to say goodbye to a missionary leaving for medical reasons. It was hard, especially since we've just had to send off two others (one from the Canaries and one from the Málaga mission on his way through Madrid to the airport), leaving because of residency issues. They say another missionary has to leave from the Málaga mission due to just that: residency. A grave reminder of how important my job is here in the office. We've been working really hard, doing absolutely everything in our power and really putting our heads together to get some of the residency steps done, and we will continue to do so. We can't have any missionaries go home because of residency. Not even one. There are NO acceptable losses.

A challenge I've been having lately is completing all of my little assignments in the face of huge assignments like residency. I tend to focus really hard on one thing and shove everything else to a lower plane of attention. This is good and bad at the same time, as there are lots of small duties that I need to do. Mom, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

All in all, I'm content. :) I'm feeling more confident in all aspects of my work and satisfied as I see some of my hard work pay off. I hope I can continue to do my best here in the office, and in the field, so that God will be happy with my sacrifice. I really am working as hard as I can, and I feel satisfied in at least that, even if I'm not perfect and make mistakes sometimes.

I love you all very much. I'm happy to be where I am and to do what I'm doing. I'm glad to hear that Xander has arrived home safely and is now beginning the undoubtedly miserable and thoroughly uncomfortable process of "becoming normal" (something I won't have to suffer for a few more months). Donny is also returning home soon. I wish all of my friends a "welcome home" (even though I am not there to give it personally) and I truly look forward to seeing you all again. Good friends like us cannot be separated forever.

Take care! ´Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

Surprise Phone Call!!!

2010-08-07T19:06:00.007-07:00

We received a phone call first thing this morning!

No, not from Elder Knorr...but from the Seels, a senior couple returning from Madrid.

Elder Seel served as the financial secretary and Sister Seel as the mission nurse. Christopher was their district leader, and has affectionately mentioned them several times in his emails. Sister Seel helped with his toenail problem and when he was very sick with the stomach flu a few months ago. The last few weeks they've been working in the mission office together. It sounds like they know each other very well.

Elder Seel had wonderful things to say - that Elder Knorr is one of the best missionaries in the mission, that he is an exceptional young man, very inquisitive, a hard worker, and a great example to all of them. The Seels flew home to California today, and will be coming out to Utah in September. We can't wait to meet them!

Thanks for the glowing report, Elder and Sister Seel...and thank you for your selfless service in the Spain Madrid Mission.

Great New Pictures from Elder Knorr!

2010-08-04T17:15:00.036-07:00

Elder Knorr and Elder Benson"José and Gabriela - An awesome young couple. José has been baptized since we took this picture."

"That night with the baptisms was really awesome:
6 new members in one night!"Anthony was baptizedWith Anthony
Colonel Knorr fryin' up some chicken

Impressive cooking skillsYum, Yum!!!

"A freak lightening storm that happened in Madrid about a month ago. It didn't even rain, just went crazy with nonstop lightening bolts!"

19 new pictures added to Slideshow "Fourth Area - Madrid Barrio 2" in the upper right corner.

Hello everyone!

2010-08-04T06:27:00.005-07:00

Yes, you could say I'm "hangin´in here" in the office. There is so much to do, and all of it is urgent, so we've been spending a lot of long, long days in here trying to get it all done. We've made steps towards eating more regularly (though it's still not what you'd call "regular") and I exercised and had my personal study in the morning for the first time today in several weeks. I hope that things begin to stabilize soon. But stabilized or not, we've been getting a lot of work done here.

I've greatly enjoyed working with President Watkins and all of the people in the office as well. President Watkins truly is a man with a vision and I enjoy helping put those visions into action as the secretary. I'm learning my duties bit by bit, focusing on the most urgent things (residency) and slowly picking up on all the other little things that I need to do. The nature of the work in the mission office is that I try to do my normal work and constantly get interrupted by various emergencies. Before I started working here, I never understood all of the responsibility that the office elders have. I'm learning a lot about how to work under pressure and get things done.

I'm glad to hear about how all of my beloved siblings are doing. It sounds like everyone's happy and healthy.

Well, unfortunately, we don't have much time today. Once again, the office has invaded my preparation day and we'll be running some errands, all of them of course "urgent." It's all we can do to keep the mission from exploding, but we're learning our duties, despite our inexperience and lack of training. I continue to miss being able to doing normal missionary work like I used to, but I know that this is an important assignment and, until I can get things down to a manageable level, I've got to devote all of my time and effort to this.

Sorry I don't have the typical "missionary experience" stories this week. The only stories I have have to do with working until 11:00 in the office trying to arrange emergency flights, re-making the mission phone list 5 times, fixing the network connection so that we can print, unjamming the printer, getting 8 missionaries registered in their local city halls, combining the residency data from the old Bilbao missions, the Canaries and the old Madrid mission, making and sending out announcements, keeping up with references, compiling spreadsheets, etc., etc., etc.. So, not your typical "missionary work," but the mission would explode if nobody did it.

To make up for my boringness, I decided to send some pictures in this email. Enjoy! I love you all so much.

-Elder Knorr

Hear from Elder Knorr's former Mission President Brad and Debbie Farnsworth

2010-07-31T19:46:00.009-07:00

CLICK HERE for a short interview with the Farnsworths, taped shortly after they returned from Madrid. Some of the mission boundary information is now outdated, but this is a very interesting discussion about the Church in Spain and their missionary leadership experiences.

The Secretary Thing is Quite Taxing

2010-07-28T16:53:00.007-07:00

Hello everyone! It's me, Elder Knorr. Well, let's just say that it's been a long, long week. This secretary thing is quite taxing.

But, in order to preserve the missionary-ness of this email, I will start by talking about the area and how things are going in that respect. We have four missionaries here, still. We had five: Elders Dredge, Whitesides, Holub, Anderson and me. Monday, Elder Dredge went home, Elder Holub went to Villalba and Elder Whitesides went way up north to be Branch President in Leon. Since the work in Alcobendas and San Sebastian (our 2 little cities) has been SO GOOD lately, President decided to keep the compliment of elders at 4.

Since Elder Anderson (the new financial secretary) and I are so new at our jobs and still have so much to learn, we've been spending 12-hour days in the office, sometimes more, and have no time to leave. We understood how important it was to keep the work up in our area and take care of our investigators, but our jobs in the office were so crucial to keeping the mission from blowing up that we have probably taught 1 or 2 lessons this entire last week. It isn't very fun but if we don't do it, no one will. If we had been the only missionaries left in Alcobendas, the situation would have converted into a despicable mess.

Because of these conditions, we were very pleased to hear that two more missionaries were coming to work in our area: Elder Bartholomew and Elder Saune. Our best friend Freencky, the best ward missionary in the universe, has been showing them around and helping them learn the area and meet the investigators. Seriously, Freencky (pronounced Franky) is a stud. He's a 19-year-old guy who has lived in Venezuela and New York, speaks English and Spanish, and loves to go out and work with us. He's becoming a great teacher and finder. He will be a tremendous missionary.

We have many baptismal dates right now and many progressing investigators. The sad part is that we don't know hardly ANY of them! :( The office is really sucking my life away right now, but I know that if I don't, the mission will melt down. The first of my joys in the office is called Residency, and it actually is pretty fun. Well, it is a bit daunting because it's a neverending pit of time-consumption mixed in with tedious government procedures and neverending administrative silence, but I enjoy the challenge. We've really had to put our heads together to find out how to get everything done in a realistic and timely manner, but it looks like it's going to be ok.

I really wish I could tell some more interesting stories, but it would be somewhat tedious to tell you about my tedious schedule. Suffice it to say that I have done a TON of tiny little things. I seem to be the call-if-you-have-a-problem-and-don't-know-who-to-call guy. Now, I don't want anyone to go thinking that I don't enjoy this assignment - I do a lot. But at times my heart yearns to teach a lesson and make some contacts and not have to answer the phone every 2 minutes. I'm sure I will go adjusting and that with time I will be able to do everything faster, which will allow me to go out and teach and preach and work as missionaries should do.

Elder Saune is from the old Bilbao mission, so it's been interesting to see how the cultures of the missions differ (or shall I say clash?). Elder Anderson is from the old Malaga mission, so we have a very diverse piso. Oh, we also live the law of consecration: everyone's food is everyone's food. I personally like it, though we don't eat in the apartment very much. As a matter of fact, we don't eat very much at all. Also, I won't have to drive anytime soon because Elder Anderson has a permit, though if I am called upon to drive, it won't be very hard to get the license because we found a much faster and cheaper new way to do it. In any case, I would prefer not to drive.

That's all I've got right now. Yes, I'm a bit boring. Yes, I wish I was still a normal missionary. But I'm here now, and as long as I'm here I'm going to dedicate myself completely to this.

Thanks for your support and love. It means a lot.

Till next time,

-Elder Knorr

"Mentally exhausted" and "Somewhat undernourished" and "Having great success."

2010-07-21T05:38:00.016-07:00

Hello everyone! This is a mentally exhausted and somewhat undernourished version of the Elder Knorr you once knew.

Yes, the office is quite a beast. I'm doing the best I can to understand all the duties and responsibilities I have as an office elder. There's a lot to do! Among all of the things that I have to do, the most pressing and stressful is residency, which is basically trying to keep all of our missionaries legal in Spain. It has to do with preparing and sending information to the government, in various stages and within various time frames, as well as setting up appointments for our missionaries to go in and get fingerprinted and stuff, all in order to obtain residency cards for them. It's very hard because even when we do our part perfectly and by-the-book, the government is so slow and overworked that they take too long to get back to us and our residencies start expiring. So we've started using these "Administrative Silence" pleas that we fill out and turn in to get immediate appointments. The worst part of it all is that if we fail in anything and a missionary's residency is expired for more than three months, that missionary cannot be made legal again and has to be sent out of the country. Yeah, big consequences.

The rest of my duties involve preparing spreadsheets, reports, organizing emails, coordinating flights home, and managing all manner of randomly appearing crises. It's been a little challenging having my brain working like this again, I've had more headaches in the past week than I have in my whole mission combined. My head is just a tumbling kaleidoscope of chaos at times. We don't go home to eat either at mediodia, so it's either sack lunches or nothing, unless one of the senior couples in the office has pity on us and brings us something to eat.

In spite of the massive time constraints the office has been putting on our proselyting schedule, we've been able to teach several lessons and we have lots of investigators. Most of that is thanks to Elder Dredge and Elder Holub, who both work full time in Alcobendas and have been having great success. We all share the area, so they plan some visits for us at night that we can go out and teach after being in the office all day. I will confess: it's a mockery compared to how we used to work, just a few hours of time to teach every day. I already miss the old proselyting schedule and being able to spend all of my time doing the work of the Lord. Now I just spend all my time allowing the other missionaries to do the work of the Lord uninterrupted. I understand how important my job is, but I wish I wasn't the one who had to do it. In any case, I'm learning how to do it as fast and as well as I can so that when Elder Whitesides leaves, which could happen very, very soon, I'll be ready to take over.

In other news, we have a new companion! Elder Anderson arrived this last Monday from the Canary Islands to be the new Financial Secretary, dealing with all things related to money: bills, reimbursements, monthly allotments, etc. He is in a trio with Elder Whitesides and me, and is learning Elder Seel's current job. The Seels will be leaving soon, so Elder Anderson has been spending lots of time in the office learning everything he has to know. I don't envy him; his job looks even more complicated than mine, not to mention all of the other changes he's had to go through recently. He's holding up really well though.

The five of us who live in Alcobendas are all living in a two-man apartment. It's been quite a challenge getting things organized so that it works, but we've finally got it all figured out. It's a bit cramped, and there never seems to be enough food, but it's kind of fun in its own way.

Oh wow...I don't think there's really any other news right now. It's been an interesting week. Today we'll be taking most of preparation day off to instead be in the office and work on some urgent residency matters. Yeah, I know. Way fun. But I hope to at least take an hour or two to write letters. Thanks for all your support and everything. I love being a missionary and I hope that I can be serviceable to the Lord in whatever He calls me to do. I love you!

-Elder Knorr

P.S. Elder Whitesides and I realized that we come from office elder lineage. His dad and his older brother both served in the office on their missions, and so did Dad [and Grandpa Godfrey]. This means that Ethan and perhaps also my posterity will also serve in the office.

Lots of News Today!

2010-07-14T17:29:00.005-07:00

Hello everyone! Oh wow, where do I start. I suppose I'll go chronologically.

First, everything went well with Jose Alfredo's interview. He'll be getting baptized the 17th. He's a great guy! I realized as we were teaching him the law of tithing that he is VERY capitalist. Dad, you would get along really well with him, I think. He's lost everything several times, had businesses go under time and time again. When he moved from Nicaragua to Guatemala, he showed up with no more than $10 in his pocket and worked up to having his own business and a good amount of wealth. One would think that this capitalist mentality would make him more prone to cling to his money, but as I'm sure Dad can imagine, he doesn't really behave that way. His behavior has made it much easier to part with money. In fact, he really views tithing as a kind of investment: following God's commandments and then getting returns in blessings. He's a very good man with a lot of faith and great desires to follow God.

Secondly, I just have one little thing to say. YEAH ALEX!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEAH!!!!! Congratulations on your call to Australia!! :D :D :D I just read that today and I almost stood up and cheered right here. I'm so pleased to hear about this....wow. Alegría total. You're going to love it. Write me and tell me all about it. Kirtabicteam pride.

Thirdly, we were kept up very late Sunday night by the honking of car horns and the sounding of air horns and shouting and singing and clapping and fireworks and trumpets and all kinds of noisemakers you can possibly imagine.The streets were a constant fast-moving parade of cars honking, with the passengers halfway out of the window holding out Spanish flags and cheering and singing. From what I hear, this is the first time that Spain has won the World Cup, so it's a very big thing for them.

Oh, yeah, one last little thing. I'm the new mission secretary.

Now, you're probably wondering why I waited so long into the email to tell you all this and didn't include it in the subject line. Well, let's just say that I did it to be funny. But, in all honestly, it changed everything overnight. I got the call Saturday Morning from President, telling me I was going to have a "nueva asignación." And that's when he broke the news. I had until Monday morning to pack everything and say goodbye. We used the circumstance as a catalyst to teach lessons with our investigators and members and were able to teach a LOT. Then, Monday morning, I left Barrio 2. We dragged the luggage through the Metro and then got a ride halfway from Elder Dredge and Elder Whitesides (the current secretary). There, in the office in San Sebastian de los Reyes, we had a mini transfer meeting and got our new companions. I am now companions with Elder Whitesides. Anyways, this is an irregular transfer because it happened with two weeks left to go in the regular transfer cycle.

So, more or less this is what's going on now: I've got two weeks to learn everything that Elder Whitesides knows, which includes residency, numbers, references, reports, and a variety of other little tasks. I'm taking studious notes in a fresh new notebook on just about everything that I see Elder Whitesides do so that I can learn how to do his job correctly and subtilize [word of the week = refine] my secretary skills. It's quite the task. I've only been at it for a few days though, and it doesn't seem to be impossibly hard or incredibly unenjoyable. It will be a change though, that's for sure. I won't be doing a lot of traditional proselyting like I've done up to this point; there won't be enough time for that. Elder Dredge and his new companion Elder Holub will be staying in Alcobendas with us to start working as full-time proselyting missionaries to keep up the good success that has been happening here lately. Elder Whitesides and I will likely spend the majority of our time in the office, working, though we hope to get out during the late hours to be able to teach at least a few lessons.

Other than that, things are going well. I'm still trying to get used to the idea of my new reality as the mission secretary, as well as trying to accept the fact that I am no longer a Barrio 2 missionary who is able to work as such all day. The new apartment is a little one, made for two, and we've got four of us crammed in there. The elders I'm with are awesome so it's not miserable at all. All of this is kind of a big thing to wrap my mind around still, but I'll be doing everything I can to learn my new job and keep my spirits up in the midst of change. I love you all and am very grateful for your support and love. As I've always believed: I'll go where He wants me to go, I'll say what He wants me to say, and I'll be what He wants me to be. I know it will be hard but with His help I'll do it. Thanks again for everything! Take care.

-Elder Knorr

Spain Wins World Cup!

2010-07-12T05:13:00.004-07:00

Reports are the tournament made it more difficult to contact people the last couple of weeks (they were either in bars or their apartments watching the games), but maybe their huge win will make them more talkative and willing to engage with the missionaries...we can always hope :)

I'm doing well and the work is also.

2010-07-07T05:20:00.004-07:00

Hi everyone! Elder Knorr here. I'm doing well and the work is also.

Well, where do I start...I've enjoyed the package that I received! :) All very nice things. Thanks for the CTR ring, now I can finally start choosing the right! Hahaha, just kidding. I already have been. The ring is a good fit though. And thanks for the salt water taffy, it was a nice American touch. All of us in the piso are also enjoying the new Northridge Choir Album.

Some of the big highlights this last week: the 4th of July! Yeah! INDEPENDENCE Day! We made pancakes and eggs for lunch and were even able to secure some maple syrup (a rare commodity here). We topped off our maple syrupy pancakes with the red, white and blue sprinkles that I got in the package. Yes, I admit that sprinkles on pancakes is a rather "original" idea, but it did make them seem much more patriotic. A NOTE TO MY CANADIAN MOTHER AND RELATIVES: The maple syrup claimed to be 100% Canadian, so in my own special way, we kind of celebrated Canada Day as well. The brand name on the syrup was "Vertmont," a glaring misspelling of the state name Vermont, but it was still more Canadian than American. Other things we had for our celebratory meal: popcorn, Oreo cookies and patriotic music playing in the background. An all around good experience. :) Oh, and that night, there were fireworks!!! We don't know exactly why, but we're not complaining. We had fireworks on the 4th of July!

We're fighting to keep our current baptismal dates and find more. Jose has some big doubts about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and we're trying to help him understand that the only way to know for sure that it is all true is to get a witness from the Holy Ghost. He is a very intelligent and analytical man and likes to study and see evidence, so asking him to think in this new way is quite a stretch for him. He wants to get baptized because he likes the Church and its teachings and the organization, but without a testimony of the fundamental doctrines of our faith, he won't be established on a "firm foundation" and little things in the future will cause him to fall. This is by far the most difficult situation I have dealt with thus far in my mission. Jose is a great man and my companion and I are always thinking of ways we can help him. His baptismal date is set for the 17th and we'll do everything we can to prepare him for that date.

The change of the mission boundaries hasn't affected us much: the work goes on as usual. The only thing that will make things really different will be to get transferred to one of the new areas, in which case just about everything will change. But, for now, for me, things continue the same.

There's not much more to report this time around...I really love you all and am very, very grateful for your continued correspondence, love and prayers. There is so much to do and so little time to do it all, but I trust that if we follow the Lord's commandments and trust in him, he will make things work out. Thanks for everything!

-Elder Knorr

Big Change in Spanish Mission Boundaries

2010-06-30T20:52:00.001-07:00

From another Madrid missionary's email:

"Tomorrow also starts the new Madrid Mission. We´re getting about 20 new missionaries from Malaga mission and 30 from Bilbao, and a few of the areas in our mission are being integrated into Malaga mission. Also, new areas are being added to our mission. So a whole bunch of new missionaries."