Happy New Year 2020

The Beach in Newport Rhode Island

Rhode Island District

Elder Chidister and Knowlden

my worn out shoes 

Rhode Island Church Sign

Trash bag fixed the blinds

Elder Johnson and Knowlden in Rhode Island

Week 64   Jan 6th 2020 
With it being the week of transfers, Monday was not P-Day. After we woke up, we went over to Brother Stableys, and had our studies there along with doing our laundry, that took forever! It was nice though, we were able to both do our wash for our bedding! That literally took most of the day. We had a small break for lunch and we went to Walmart because I got new shoes, the old ones didn’t look so good. I also finally got a phone case and a screen protector. It was very much needed. After dinner we had a short visit with Brother Walker. We were able to read from the Book of Mormon with him, and he really did enjoy that! We came back home and walked over to see Mike, and have a lesson with him. Funny enough whenever we visit him it is always raining. When we got there we watched another Book of Mormon video with him and talked about it. We watched 1 Nephi 7, when Nephi and his brothers go back to Jerusalem for the second time. This time they went back to talk to Ishmaels family and bring them into the desert with them. The main reason is so they could have wives and raise generations to come! After our lesson, right at 9pm T-texts came out and I will be staying here in Newport with Elder Johnson!!!
     Tuesday was the P-day of the week and we did the usual. Shopping, hanging out at the Chapel, emails at the Library, and of course calling the Family. That is honestly my favorite part! Later we made it to dinner with Noel and Luara. We officially had our first lesson with them! We went over the lesson on the Plan of Salvation and they really did like it! They are definitely going to be closer to Christ in their lives. One thing that I was able to do before we left is leave a blessing on their home. During the blessing tears just came to my eyes because I could feel the spirit enter even stronger into there home! After that wonderful experience we came home, I wrote in my journal and we played card games until midnight because you know…… "Happy New Years "!!!
     Well it is now January 1st 2020, a start to a new adventure and a new Decade! Today was the first day of the new transfer, and what great way to start to be with an amazing companion in an amazing area of Newport Rhode Island! There are miracles to come soon! Sadly though it was a slower day. After studies we made our way to the Chapel and set up one of the rooms to fit our "Book of Mormon Class", we redecorated and cleaned it up. We are really excited for it to start up next week! At the Same time we called people taught in the past to see if they would still be interested. We are updating them because a lot of numbers no longer work. We did get a couple who, said to call back in a week or so because it still is the Holidays. We came home for dinner then went back to the chapel to work on area notes and make more calls. There are a lot of people that have been taught! That's basically what we did all that day.
     Thursday we kept pretty busy as well. After some studies we made some calls and went to the Library and did a little bit of Facebook finding.  At the same time I made a new list of people taught in the past to call and see if they would still be interested I'm hearing a message on Christ and His Gospel. We made our way to the Chapel and added a couple of things to the Book of Mormon class room, and made a few of those calls. We then had a lesson on the restoration with Dante a friend of Tionnas. It went well and we will teach him again next week!  After that we came home for dinner and then made stop byes with less active members. We tried to visit one who goes to Salv Regina (a college in downtown Newport). While downtown we saw a lot of the Mansions and the infamous Cliff walk. We hope to do that sometime this transfer.  To end the night, we had a good lesson with James and his parents. It was cool because his dad joined this time! We ended up watching "The Restoration" video in Cantonese (恢复). After that we talked about it a little more and help build their testimonies before they fly back to China this upcoming Sunday.
     Friday morning came early, and it became a long day. We drove up to the Providence YSA Elders apt, so we could carpool with them to West Bridgewater for DLC. We were there for 2 hours and talked about how we can continue to do better this up coming transfer. After DLC we went out to lunch at Chick-fill-a and it was so good, it has been over a transfer sense I ate there. We then drove down to the Warwick Chapel to discuss the same things. After District Council in Warwick, we went with the Elders to the Malls foodcourt because we found out that they had Panda Express there! By far my favorite fast food restaurant in the mission! After we ate and talked to the Elders, we came back to Newport then went to the Navy Base for FHE night.  It was a smaller night due to the holidays but it was still really fun!
     Saturday was another long day. In the Morning we had Missionary coordination and that honestly went really well! After we came home had studies and the rest of the day wasn’t as fun. All of our appointments ended up canceling or being rescheduled. Basically did a lot of calling again and stop byes. Nothing to spectacular but we got through it! At night I was trying to fix our bathroom blinds and ended up breaking it... soo I fixed it with a black trash bag.  We also got a call around 10:15 ish we missed it but it was from a member who is blind all she wanted to know was the time. It was cute but funny.
     Sunday, and the first one of the year! After we woke up and got ready we made our way to Church.  We were talking to Brother Jones and he had a pin on his tie with the Letter K. His first name is Ken, and I joked and said that would look better on me because I am Elder (K)nowlden. Suprising me he gave it to me and I am truly grateful for his kindness. We heard a lot if great testimonies and we actually heard the whole bishopric give testimonies to was pretty cool. I also had the opportunity to bare my testimony it is always a good feeling to share it with others. In second hour we had Sunday School and Brother Wood led the discussion on the introduction pages of the Book of Mormon, that was also really cool! After Church we talked to a couple of family's and set up times to come over and share a message with them. We also had a good lesson with Brother Mottrom (a returning member). We talked about the importance of Sacrament and he said this was the first time he’s taken it in a while, and he really did enjoy it and felt that he was needed there. We then read the intro page to the Book of Mormon. After we had our lesson with him we went to the car and started to talk with brother Gallagher. He is a super cool member and has an awesome beard. While talking with him we noticed on his phone he was looking up "How to grow a Beard?" We thought it was pretty funny because he already has a nice one. We then came home had studies and after a little bit I took a nap on the floor in front of the heater. When I woke up we went to go visit Brother Stabley for a message, we are now planning on going over on Sundays to share a message with him! We then came home and we finally had dinner, the second best part of Fast Sunday, the first is obviously partaking the Sacrament. We did a couple stop byes then came home for a lesson with Mike. We went over the Restoration with him as a reminder of the reason we have the Book of Mormon. 

                       Jude 1:21
    "21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

     We should always Love God because he loves us. He sent his son, our Lord Jesus Christ to atone for our sins so that we can have that Eternal Life. I am trying to do what I can to come closer to him and show the Love I have for him by the service I do by helping others see the Love Christ has for us. Because of him we can all have Eternal Happiness. I say these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen