btw: they get travel plans today!!

I cannot believe I've been out a month already! I'M NOT READYYYY! Hahahaha I'm excited to get out there though, just wish I could learn Spanish in 6 weeks ;)

So Hermana McBride finished the BOM in 20 days, her testimony has been strengthened so much it's been amazing to watch! I am in Moroni and I want to finish in the temple and put the promise to the test again. :) Her knee is fine! Thank you all for prayers in her behalf. We went to see a specialist and he took some xrays. She's had double knee surgery previously but her knee cap is too high and sitting for long periods of time is causing problems. He called it the "MTC knee" so he referred her to physical therapy. She's gone twice now and it seems to help. The doc puts cocoa butter on her knees and scraps them with this metal tool to break up the scar tissue. She said it's the most pain she's ever been in. :/ She had me hold her hand and I now understand the pain of new fathers whose hands are practically broken off when their wives are giving birth hahaha It was sad to see her in so much pain. Learned the true meaning of companionship though! ;) We had to take a shuttle to the doc and be out in the real world and I got a small taste of the realness of being a missionary. I've always admired missionaries and held them to a high standard in my mind. Whenever I see them in public I get excited. At the doc I overheard a lady say "Oh, theres sister missionaries" and I was like HEY THAT'S MEEEEEE!!!! hahahaha I don't know it makes me happy. It's still hard to believe I'm really a missionary!

One of the Elders in our district was diagnosed with MONO and STREP. So. It goes without saying, keep him in your prayers. And us that we don't all catch it. haha

My calling as Online Portal Trainer isn't that cool but it's special to even have a calling in the MTC, not everyone does. :) It was kind of cool because the 2nd counselor came in our district and asked who the most computer savvy person is and everyone pointed at Hermana McBride. Then after we got the calling Pres Bowen told us they had already picked us before they asked that. And by picked I mean inspired to extend the calling to us. haha anyway so we just get to train the new districts in our zone on how to use the online portal for missionary assessments, weekly letters to the branch pres, and TALL (Spanish Learning Program). It's fun I love helping the new districts because I remember vividly how I felt my first week. *shudders* And because the elders who WERE the Online Portal Trainers didn't train us when we were new. We had to figure it out on our own. See, if you want something done right you get the sisters to do it. ;)

We didn't see Music & Spoken word live /bummer/ but it's still so much better on the big screen in Utah! And I like to find Brother Richan in it :p

So fun fact: I love the Spanish language... Sometimes. When you're speaking to others you either use the Tu form which is for friends or the Usted form which is more formal. As missionaries we must always use the usted form to show respect and dignity. BUT my favorite part! Tu is used for friends and royalty, when we pray to God we use the Tu form because he is our King and our friend, and we want that close relationship with Him. Isn't that awesome? :D

We had a revelation in class that seems silly but I never even put together after all these years. So we have the Bible that contains the Old TESTAMENT the New TESTAMENT and then the BOM ANOTHER TESTAMENT of Jesucristo. Cool, huh?

Idk if I mentioned yet that I can recite the First Vision in Espanol now. And I helped a sister in our district learn it cuz she was having trouble memorizing it. I helped her learn it in English first so she could connect it with what she was saying in Spanish and gave her some fun ways to remember a couple lines that were hard for her. She thanked and praised me in class saying I was a great teacher and she couldn't have done it without me. I know she could have but it makes me happy to help... in SPANISH! ;) The choir sang Joseph Smiths First Prayer on Tuesday and I have never felt the spirit so strong before. It was incredible. The choir director said how many other times will you have to bear your testimony of Jose Smith with 700 other missionaries? Cool way to think of singing! And he said that someone prophesied that every nation would have Jose Smiths name for good and evil (or something like that I don't remember) but he had everyone stand up who is learning a new language. ALMOST EVERYONE. And he said we are literally fulfilling that prophecy by preaching in new tongues.

Brother Alexander, one of our teachers, said that something he loved about our teaching is our energy and smiles. He said he remembered when H McBride and I were both in bad moods but we came in all smiles and happy. I'm glad he saw that! Cuz I didn't feel it hahaha

We had a devotional the other day on the most important thing. Can you guess? The Atonement. Duh! Afterwards,Bro Doman (1st counselor in branch pres) asked why people were astonished by the Saviors teachings. Because of the great love He had for the people. People were astonished by His love. We still are! Sis Doman tied it into missionary work that we have to love people like we've never loved before. People wont CARE what we KNOW until they KNOW how much we CARE. I love that!!!!

3 Nephi 5:13 is about who I am now!

I was having a hard time the first couple weeks here because I felt like I wasn't progressing spiritually and I felt like I should feel the spirit more often here. Bro Alexander gave an object lesson about it yesterday that comforted me alot. He turned off the lights and turned on a flashlight and said this is the spirit. It can light up the room pretty well. Then he turned on the lights and said is the flashlight any less bright? No but it seems like it in comparison to the big light. He said that's what it's like here because we are constantly fed the spirit that we may not recognize it as much. :) LOVE IT! It's so true though.

Something tells me it snowed in Provo this week..

 Hermana Gutknecht ran into a Elder Matt Gainer from on home on Wednesday!

BONUS LETTER!!!! (:

We got a bonus letter this week! I didn't find it in my email until today. So here it is! 

Sunday was awesome, we got to watch Music and the Spoken word. They sang all my fav songs! Did you think to pray? Called to Serve, Come Thou Fount, etc. Then we had RS with alllllllllll the Sister Missionaries and we sang As Sisters in Zion and can I tell you how much of a beautiful sight we are. It brought me to tears!

In the devotional we also talked about how people feel when they get home and their Stake Pres releases them and takes the missionary mantle from them. I want to serve my misison with all my heart, might, mind and strength, Full force with no regrets. I want to work hard every day so when that time comes I want it to hurt. I want it to break my heart when they take the mantle from me because then and only then will I know for a fact I did all I could do, I served the Lord with my whole soul.

Hermana Gutknecht

LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Week 4!

Hola familia y amigos!
I am now the Senior Companion in the MTC which really doesn't mean anything haha Hermana McBride and I were called on Sunday to be the Online Portal Trainers, we're the first sisters to have this position! We got our first batch of newbies on Wednesday and trained them yesterday :) Elder Gainer found me in the cafeteria on Wednesday when he arrived! Good to see him! I got Sammy's Easter card best ever. Bunny riding a unicorn made my day. IT'S SNOWING!!!! I'll send pics next Pday. I wrote David but don't know if he got it or not. Hermana McBride has been working on her testimony and we are reading the BOM together she already passed me!! Her testimony is getting stronger every day and she has discovered a love for reading the scriptures. Please keep her in your prayers as she has been having knee trouble and is worried she may be sent home for surgery.
I'M GOING TO BE ON CONFERENCE. Well kinda... The lady that does the segment in between conference sessions on Saturday had someone compose Ten Thousand Legions Marching specifically for the MTC choir and they had it recorded and will play it in between sessions on Saturday SO LOOK FOR ME!! I'm on and aisle seat wearing my flowery dress I wore with the cowwboy boots. It's awesome!
The MTC is great I love it here. It's like being fed the spirit with a golden spoon. It's also very difficult and frustrating. As my Branch Pres would say "It's the most wonderful, awful experience of your life." Pretty much sums that up! We've had some great devotionals. Elder Scott D. Whiting of the Seventy spoke about how the MTC is like an incubator "controlled environment with desirable conditions to encourage growth and development. I agree! He also talked about how we had certain comforts like family, friends, music, food, etc. and we were asked to leave all those behind in order to rely completely on the greatest Comforter provided, the Holy Ghost. The good times here outweigh the hard times. My teachers are amazing and whenever we get frustrated with the language or our testimonies they help us come up with a plan so that we can overcome our weaknesses. I'm doing much better with the language but I know I can do even better. I'm understanding a lot more and I can read and understand some scriptures. Btw, dad I looked at your first letter and could read the spanish scripture you sent and knew it was 1 Nephi 3:7 thank you!  :D Our lessons are doing a lot better. We taught Jose (our teacher) a few days ago and after he said it was the best lesson so far. I felt inadewuate in the language so I was frustrated and didn't feel like it was as good as he said. But the spirit was there and I bore my testimony in the language and THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! And last night we taught Jose again, we taught the Restoration and I went in with a really good feeling about it. Our teacher said it was another best lesson so far. So things are getting better! I'm very happy, I still have hard days and struggle time to time but I know it is for my growth and I know it will help me in the field. No matter how hard this work is I know its where I need to be and I couldnt do anything more worthwhile in my life than this. I love the gospel and I love being a missionary nothing has ever brought me such pure joy than being a servant and representative of our Savior Jesus Christ! I love you all and love hearing from you.
Hasta Luego
Te amo

Hermana Gutknecht

Starting week three...

So Utah is weird. They mix ketchup and mayo and call it fry sauce lol it's actually pretty good! The hardest thing besides the language here is not saying the word "guys" apparently it's disrespectful. You never know how much you say a word until you can't say it anymore! The MTC is full of ups and downs, pride and humility. I've been sick for a week with a sinus infection and the doctor here is dumb. But I/m finally getting better. My companion tookgood care of me. I see why RM/s have such a hard time adjusting when they get home. I was only in bed for a day and a half and felt worthless and missing out oneverything lol

We had a lesson the other day that I felt went bad because I was disappointed in my language performancxe. The next day our teacher who is our investigator made an example out of our lesson. He said he could feel how much we cared for him and that we had something he needed and it increased his faith. made us feel s good that even though our Spanish wasn't great our spirits shined through and made up the difference.

We did TRC (Training Resource Center) which is kinda like visit teaching members. We only had a couple minutes to prepare but we had to use as much Spanish as possible. The first guy was like a grandpa warm and welcoming the second guy was young and didnt seem interested. The first guy said his faith was strengthened by our spirit and humility and "Your Spanish is coming well but greater is your desire to help others which was even greater communicatred to me. You are great and California will be blessed." So awesome!

So yesterday we got a surprise! We weren't supposed to teach until Sat. but our elders got sick so our teacher was like well Hermana get ready you have 30 mins to prepare to teach. AHHHHHH!! I had so many feelings, anger, annoyed, panic, fear. We said a pray pleading for the spirit to help us. We found the less we focus on the language the better our lessons are, the more spiritual they are. We had already taught the atonement, repentance, and forgiveness. We asked him to pray and repent but when we followed up yesterday he said he hadnt I asked why and he said he didn't feel like he could. I told him God loves him and always wants to hear from him and he can always pray. We taught a brief lesson about the restoration and how the gospel blesses families. He said he loves his family but they dont have a good relationship because of mistakes he made. In my awful, broken spanish I shared with him how when my own family was goingthrough hard times the gospel helped us overcome trials and our knowledge gave us comfort and peace. My companion was shocked at how much I was speaking. The spirit guided me. It was probably our best lesson!

I've been learning so much. I love my district we're all so close. We share evrythiung together. One of the Elders, Elder Manwill, woke up in the middle of the night and had to say this:

Women carry the errand of angels. Ill never forget any of you for as long as i live. your willingness to do what God will for you baffles me. I see the faith that you have in our lord Jesus Christ and it just makes me strive with all f myheart to do better. I have never seen such amazing examples of women in all of my life. Sisters you ARE able to do more in the conversion of others than us elders could ever dream. I see the Lords love for you shine through every time Im blesed t interact with any of you. Your testimonies are just so pure. Youre chiuldren will be so blessed and strengthened by their mothers choice to serve a mission. God loves you, the district loves you."

I'm so blessed to be here! My testimony is growing and I love it. You all are in my prayers.

Te quiren

Hermana Gutknecht

Being Humbled

The first couple days are made to be extremely difficult in order to make us remember that we cannot do this alone. We must be humbled in order to learn to rely on the spirit more than ourselves. And when you don't know the language, that's all we can really do. It was really rough but we all learned so much and I'm thankful for it. I am doing much better with the language as well as not crying out of frustration haha Thank you all for your DearElders, they made me so happy. My district said I have the best ward ever, I agree! It helped me a ton remembering how many people love me and support me. The language is coming more and more each day, it's a slow process but I keep trying. I know it's because of my prayers and fast along with the ones from home! Thank you for that. I was able to teach two lessons with my companion, building my confidence with the language. I can now bear my testimony and pray in Spanish. I couldn't do it without the help of the Lord. That's the miracle I was talking about, I needed that extra help from the Lord. The Holy Ghost guides my mouth as he is the perfect Spanish speaker. My companion is great, we've become great friends. She's not very strong in her testimony so I've been helping her with thast, teaching through the scriptures, and she is working on reading the BOM cover to cover. I know as she learns more of the doctrine for herself it will help her own conversion and make her a better teacher. My district is the ABSOLUTE best ever. It's crazy how we all become so close in such a short amount of time. We all miss our families and the district is the only family we've got so we all bonded quickly. It's so cool to be able to talk to them about the gospel and hear different ideas and strengthen each other's testimonies. I love them so much. We've been told it's going to be harder to say goodbye to our district than it was to our families because that instant bond and struggling together and everything. I/m the only one going to Carlsbad, two are going to Peru, four to Washington State, one Mississippi, and one Fresno Cali. 

We're always SO tired. Always on the go doing something on our rigorous schedule. But it's amazing to feel the spirit every single day. My teacher said think about how many times you pray, then multiply that by all the missionaries here. The MTC is a place where we constantly seek the Lord. 

All the hermanas in our district did choir. Unfortunately we don't get to perform at General Conference like the elders did before. BUT we will be here for Conference so someone from the First Presidency will probably come to speak! Choir was so great, better than expected. I never knew choir could be so much fun and so spiritual at the same time. We sang "Come, Follow Me" but our director said don't sing it like the boring congregation, sing it as if you're teaching it to an investigator. It was powerful. As missionaries we are representatives of Jesus Christ.

For Tuesday Night Devotional we got to sing Called to Serve! What a powerful song with so many missionaries in one room! We had a member of the Seventy come speak to us, Marcos A. Aidukaitis. I learned so much and my testimony has grown immensely. Open your mouth and do not close it until you have found every lost soul you possibly can. This made me think of Mama Waldo sharing the gospel in the nursing home. :) The most important thing I could ever do right now is be right here on the Lord's time. Serving Him in the best way I know possible. The PMG first presidency message has promises in it if we have faith and trust in the lord, we will receive those blessings. D&C 31 Lift up your voice for the time of your mission is come. I'm so thankful I'm finally on my mission, I feel guilty for taking that for granted when I got so frustrated but I know why I'm here. We were chosen at the time for a purpose, prepared by God because of exceeding faith to lay the foundation of the Latter-day work.

He spoke about the 3 degrees of glory in a way that made me realize how much our Heavenly Father really loves us no matter what. He made the point that to receive the Telestial Kingdom we literally have to do nothing. That kingdom is still so vast and amazing beyond description and He gives it to His children that do nothing to deserve it. He told us if we want that kingdom, we're doing WAY too much hahaha He said the greatest choice we will ever make is choosing our destination. Which Kingdom do you want and why. Then if you think about that always, every other little choice will be easier. "Will this help me get to my destination of the Celestial Kingdom?" We need to be valiant in the testimony of our Savior with unshakable conviction.

People call me Hermana Goot, Hermana G, or try to pronounce it so hard but fail haha my favorite was this girl was like " Are you foreign?" I was like yeah I guess I am from Florida haha

Love you all forever.

First Email Home!

Hey guys before I post the email and the pictures, I want you to know that I am editing it. Hermana Gutknecht is having a really hard time in the MTC. Harder than what was expected. If you could message her using DearElder.com before 12 Mountain Standard Time on Monday, we would all appreciate it! This is the information you'll need to do so. She really needs letters of encouragement at this time.
Sister Crystal Lynn Gutknecht
MTC Mailbox # 127
CA-CARL 0409
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

The MTC is so hard. I'm so discouraged. The first day of class Hermano A spoke only Spanish. I know that's the best way to learn but it was overwhelming. We were expected to teach a lesson in Spanish on the 2nd full day. I DONT KNOW SPANISH. My companion, Hermana McBride tried her best to speak and get the lesson across but she still struggled. I literally could not say anything. I bore my testimony in Spanish and I think it brought the spirit because our investigator, R, started tearing up. I don't know maybe that's part of the act. I keep praying for the gift of tongues but I know I need to put my effort in I just don't know how. I feel like they just through us into the wolves with no preparation. I wish they would teach us how to study and the best way to use our resources but I just don't know where to start. All the older missionaries say make it to Sunday and you'll be fine and the language comes. It's just so hard knowing I'm a great missionary but can't show it because i can't speak the language. It's frustrating having so much to say and share about this amazing gospel but not able to because of the language.  I need to learn how to study and learn this language or I'm not going to make it. Please pray for me. My companion is sweet we have a lot in common and a lot of differences but our weaknesses compliment each other. She's better with the language and I'm better with the gospel knowledge and finding scriptures. We had our first lesson last night and are expected to have another lesson prepared by tonight AND a Sunday talk in Spanish by tomorrow. I DONT HAVE ENOUGH TIME. We are always going always have something to do. I'm so exhausted already. I miss you all but don't have enough time to be homesick. I have too much to do. The spirit is strong here with so many worthy missionaries together at one time. My district is awesome we have a lot of fun together. I am in the most historic district of more sisters than elders for the first time ever. Such an amazing time to be here. Please email my next PDay is Friday but use DearElder I need a pep talk before Friday haha they print them out that day if you submit before noon mountain time. The Salt Lake Temple was perfect I loved it. I need prayers. Lots of prayers. I love you so much.

Te amo

Hermana Gutknecht

Hermana Gutknecht and her companion!

 Hermana Gutknecht and some other sisters from her district!