May 12th: I have seen so many miracles as I have served the Lord

Well it was really fun seeing all of you yesterday for mothers day. its getting really weird, and starting to get harder to focus on the work. but I'm hoping to work really hard this last week. its weird though having to start thinking about packing and weighing my bags soon and silly stuff like that. today is a really beautiful day though, we woke up early and drove to a track so i could run it was really nice, i timed myself and i ran a mile in 7 min. but i got a side ache half way through so i think i can do it a lot faster. it was fun though. the family we called from are awesome they arent even in our ward, my companion actually grew up with them, and they are in the ward next to us. i think the mom wants me to marry one of the daughters. they said i should come back to Canada and stay with them haha. 

Well I'm not really sure what to say other then I love you. and that I know the gospel has been restored. I have seen so many miracles as I have served the Lord. but still the most amazing thing is the still small confirmations we can receive from and through the Holy Ghost. it has been such a blessing to be able to learn how to better follow promptings and see the beautiful fruits of living the gospel. I know  that the fundamental principles of the church are the true way to joy even eternal joy. I have gained for myself a sure testimony of the 9 core doctrines of the church. but most importantly I have come to know my Savior, I have seen his hand guide those I teach and I have seen his atonement change lives, mine included. I am so grateful for the Prophet Joseph Smith. as I have gained a testimony of the event that took place in the grove of trees I can better understand what took place in the garden of Gethsemane. Anywho I thought I would share some things I have come to know since I don't think I have done it any other time through e mail.
sure love ya    Elder Knaphus

To Dad:

thanks papa smurf. ill have a good last week. it was really good seeing you all. I'm getting excited about starting life soon and trying to get married and what not. it should be an adventure. I'll have to chat with you when i get home about what i should do in life. do you know what time I'm getting released? ha during weekly planning i was looking at my planner and trying to figure out what I'm going to do when i get home. that was the only thing i didn't know about. well i hope things are going well with the temple. stay good ill see you in a few

               

May 4th: so that was a nice little miracle

My week has been great. we are teaching lots of African people. so thats been cool we are teaching some Hindu people from India as well. today we went to the temple and it was amazing i received lots of answers to my prayers so that was amazing,. now I'm going to get a haircut so i will be looking good for when i get home, the guy sitting by me i just started talking to him and i got his info he is from Rwanda and has been praying for guidance, he also lives across from our church so that was a nice little miracle. well i will be talking to you soon so i will just say stuff then sure love ya!!!!!!
to Mandy:
MOAB! ah I'm jealous we will call in the evening like at seven..... we are doing it at a Filipinos house so that will be fun. man tell mubby poo happy late birthday. see you in 15 days!!!

April 28th: I'm trying to find as many new investigators as possible before I leave

well things are going really good.  Its weird to be going home soon. I'm still working hard so thats good. I'm trying to find as many new investigators as possible before i leave so thats fun. i officially cannot possibly have another baptism before i go home. that sounds pretty cool having all those missionaries around for dinner. you should try and bring a non member for them to talk to. I'm excited to see Maxy puppy. so what color is my room? i will skype we already got offered to do it at someones house so we will set it up. thats just in a week or two isn't it. that's crazy. i will try to make a list of things i want to do when i get home so we have something to talk about when i skype. well pray for me not to get to trunky! love elder K
to Mandy:
  Man i have been playing with lots of little kids lately and it makes me think of Scar. man i could use some Pats bbq that sounds pretty good. i would be down to play some softball. are you excited to cut my hair in a couple weeks? haha,  you can tell your local missionaries that i would love to go out with them. well see you in 24 days <3

April 22: 30 days left "I'm still loving the work"

My Easter was just grand, we spent almost the whole day tracting and had very little success because everyone was doing family things. I'm thinking I'll prolly just wing my homecoming talk. if i chose my favorite topic we would be talking about the blacks and the priesthood. our Easter Sunday was neat elder Christofferson came to our stake and spoke to us. he talked to us about the name of Christ and how there is power in his name. its really cool that Logan is doing such a good job as branch mission leader. I have had a few mission leaders who didn't really care about their calling and it really made it harder on us as missionaries, so its cool to see how stalwart he is with it. i think it was definitely a calling that was inspired by god. well yesterday i got my flight plans and a letter from my president talking about going home. all the sudden things got real haha. its really weird he wants me to start devoting time in my studies to making lists about the future and stuff like that haha it pretty weird. its becoming harder and harder to focus on the work i have found that i just have to keep working or my thoughts wander haha also this p day we played some football and it was really fun. its really odd trying things for the first time as a skinny person. I'm so used to being the slow kid and not doing too well with stuff like that, but now I'm pretty good. but its like i dont know how to use my body I'm like a baby deer walking for the first time. but thats okay I'll adjust. my new comp is running with me now so thats fun, but he is really slow so its not much exercise, but its better then nothing, also since it was Easter week end there was lots of sales and i kinda went all out and decided to buy a whole outfit to come home in haha so i will be looking fresh to death when i get home. amyway its been a good week I'm still loving the work and I'm excited to be home in just a few weeks. LOVE YA
PS.  hey so in conference members were challenged to read from PMG have you been able to do it at all?
I asked the ward what Riley's homecoming talk should be about and here is their answer:
" This is so exciting. Pres Boyer asks returned missionaries to share missionary experiences and bear testimony of gospel principles."
Riley's response:  "sounds like i will be talking about the law of chastity."  haha!!!
To Dad:
whenever there is a temple built in an area the missionary work increases. so thats a good way of getting non members to know about the temple being built in their backyards. you could also get a hold of some temple open house invites and give them away to everyone you meet on the streets of Indy. it would be easy you could just start talking to people, then let them know you are there working on the temple, then it would start an awesome convo about what temples are. then you could invite then to the open house. man I'm excited to hear a cute little Scar's prayer. little kid prayers are the best. nothing makes me happier then wen a little kid prays for us. it melts my heart, i hope this last month is a good one too. i set lots of goals to work hard and hoping that things pay off:)

April 14th: My new companion is a stud

my week was just swell. my new companion is a stud he is a really good teacher and I'm a good finder so we are going to kill it. so far this week we have found 4 new investigators. so that is really good. its definitely weird going to an old area but the members here like me a lot. so thats good. everyone is giving me a hard time though all they talk about is that I'm going home soon which is pretty annoying, but life happens. one of the people i found here got baptized and he is now not fully active so I'm working with him. we also have an investigator family from Sudan and there kids are so freaking funny just little black hoodlems. its really weird that Scar face is two! thats quite the landmark. whats her favorite type of toy maybe i can get something for her from Canada like a toy moose or something stereotypical. did you have the blister missionaries teach stu lesson one? the only big clothes i would keep is maybe some animal shirts. they are just tall tees now ha. I'm probably gonna do absolutely nothing for my birthday. prolly just enjoy doing some tracting.well i sure love ya lots im looking forward to seeing you in about a month.
to Mandy:
 Thats so crazy that scar is two! hopefully Maxy puppy is doing ok. my new area is great my new companion is really sweet. he was pretty disobedient before i came but he knows better so he is doping really good he is an awesome teacher and we should have lots of success before i leave. well i love you to the moon and back have a beautiful day byeeeeeeeeeee
To Dad:
 Thats too bad that Garrs knee failed... life happens then we die i guess. I'm surprised Manny is still fighting he is getting old. well I'm getting really close to the month mark so thaty is pretty scarry,.

Our Zone!  

When I asked about his ugly tan socks he told me they were wool and to leave him alone cuz it was freezing there!!!  haha!!

April 7th: Back to Lakewood for my last transfer

 Seems like there is a ton of stuff going on at home right now. hopefully Garr makes it. i really enjoyed conference i received some really cool revelation, so that was neat i really enjoyed elder Bednars talk it was something i have never really put thought into but rang very true to me and my situation at the end of my mission. so today i got a transfer call I'm going to one last area. and I'm serving with another struggling companion. haha should be fun. my new area is actually my old area. I'm going back to Lakewood. so it will be pretty unique, well I'm now on my last transfer which means a month and a half so thats really scary. I'm starting to freak out a little bit but I'm excited at the same time. i bought some clothes last week so i have stuff to wear when i come home haha I'm really sad that I'm getting transferred cause the elder replacing me is one of the worst missionaries in our mission. so its like all that hard work i have been doing will just go to waste.  I'm also pretty worried about elder Cassell because he wont be able to stand up for whats right... oh well thats life. i plan on just tracting and finding the rest of my mission because the area I'm going to has nothing going on, they have no investigators. so it will be a good time. my new companions name is elder Hedley i know him pretty well because i was his zone leader. he is a really good teacher but struggles with a few rules but i think he will be alright. well i love you lots look forward to seeing you soon!

March 30: Knockin' doors, takin' names

well this week has been great, nothing really new happened, we had an investigator come to church on a fast Sunday and she decided to bear her testimony, but all she did was tell her life story. it was super akward she talked about all sorts of things that probably shouldnt be talked about in a chapel haha. other then that we have been just knockin doors takin names. we have been getting bashed a lot lately, but i kinda like it. i have found out lots of ways to catch people lying so it works out well. but I try not to bash because no good comes from it. i have convinced some one we live with to come running with me in the mornings so hopefully that lasts. he is a kinda chubby mexican so its kinda slow pace but its better then nothing. jaja so I'm pumped on that, it makes me feel a lot better in the mornings. this week i also went on exchanges with elder Marsh! it was so much fun. he is a stud. when we were on exchanges i got to go to there gym and i ran for 4 miles after not running for a long time, and i got a blister because i was wearing service shoes but it was really nice. i have come to really love running. im getting excited about coming home, its gonna be weird when april hits this week because then in my brain I'm thinking its just next month! crazy! well this week I'm going to do some shopping becasue there is a memeber who works at H&M and gives us a discount so im going to get clothes to bring home so i have something to wear when i get back. its weird shopping for skinny person clothes haha. well this week is going to go by super fast we have a jam packed week especially with general conference.  well i love you with all my heart im excited to see you in a month and a half  Love Elder K

to dad:

man hopefully my room dosent end up being a super gay color. haha sounds like you are quite busy with the temple. i guess its better to be busy then not though. Garr is pretty wild, riding across the USA, that just sounds miserable to me haha. is he doing it on a ten speed or what? hopefully mom made him a packing list with everything he needs for the trip haha. I'm really excited about conference this week. it is always a good time. im hoping to have some prayers answered as i listen to those inspired men and women. well hopefully things go well at the job. i sure love ya lots and im excited to see you soon.  elder K