True Christians

This week was good. I'll only give you the highlights. So Tuesday I met the nicest family.  They were the definition of christian. We had been knocking doors for a couple of hours and there wasn't anyone on the street that wanted to let us in or even listen to us. So that was such a bummer and it, of course, was cold. We were almost done--we had like three more houses until we were back on the bikes. We knocked on this door and we said our little speel. The lady was older and she said she had just been telling her grandson about us, explaining that we were missionaries out sharing that God loved people. She asked us if we had eaten. We said we hadn't and she told us to come and join them for dinner.

She apologized for not fixing something better but she didn't know that we were coming. Her daughter-in-law and two grandsons were over. We went in and they moved over for us and got us plates. It was the weirdest thing ever! I have never felt so welcomed or at home. They made every member that I've ever met look bad! They were so nice. They shared what they were doing in their; lives the big stuff that the boys had done at school that day. They were completely okay with us being there. We were there for a little over an hour. They asked once what church we were from because she had got a phone call and the person had asked. Other than that, we believed in Christ and so did they. That was enough.

I can't say enough good things about them. I would have no problem standing up, when they get to the judgment seat, and ask that God let them in. If not, give them my spot because they are more worthy than I could ever be. They are true Christians! That was the highlight of the week!

The rest of the week went really good. We got to teach Fred and Willy this week. Come to find out, Willy, our 90-year-old Swiss guy, is so old that he shook Henry Ford's hand. I was like "what? that's crazy!" Other than that there wasn't anything too great that happened.

I hope you have a great week.Thanks for the letters, emails, and the prayers!

Love,
   Cooper

Process of Purification

This week was great! Elder Warner and I are doing this thing called the "process of purification." It's where you fast and ask God to help you get your will more in line with His. It's pretty awesome! You start with a fast. Then you write the things that come to you through prayer or study.  Those are the things you give up. Lets just say that it is super hard! This is the second week doing it and I feel a change in us already. It's amazing!

We knocked more doors this week than I have ever done before and I actually loved it. I realized that nothing really makes me happy out here. The food is blah and sleep isn't satisfying. It's sad. I recognized I was happier out knocking doors than I was doing anything else. I'm not saying that it was any different but we changed. We are getting a lot better at stating simply what we are there for. We found three new people to teach, all in the same neighborhood. It took us 25 hours of knocking doors to do it, but we did it and actually enjoyed it! Two of those new investigators are "golden." They are looking for it.

One man is Craig. He's in his 50's, married with kids and is super cool. He let us right in his house when we knocked on the door merely because we were Christians. He also didn't want us to shake the dust off our feet on his door. Really cool! He was amazed that we knew so much theology at such a young age. We gave him a Book of Mormon. I'm excited to meet with him this week. The other "golden" guy is named Fred. He's a single dad. We knocked on his door after it got dark and he let us right in. He said that he had one question and he asked it (cant remember what it was) and we answered it. He said he was in! We have a return appointment this Saturday for him! The third is Willy. He's from Switzerland. He also let us right in. He asked who we were. We told him we were missionaries and that we were out sharing a message with people. He said "Mormons?" And we said "Yes." He was like, "Why didn't you just say that?" He's super cool. I already love him. He's 90 and just fell backwards down a flight of steps and he wasn't hurt at all! I loved visiting with him. He has had missionaries come before but it was like eight years ago. We sat and talked about his wife who has passed away and the stuff happening in the world. It was good. I love that old man already!

So, yep! That's about how my week went. It has been a week with a lot of learning in it. One of the quotes that I love from my calender says "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are" by E. E. Cummings.  It totally describes my life right now! I love you. I hope you have a great week. Know that I pray for you and the rest of the family every morning and night. You guys never leave my heart.

Love,
  Cooper

Finally wore the shirt you sent me. Have a picture for proof!

The Priesthood is Real

I'm doing good in my new area. It gets a little hard. I get to learn how to be self motivated now. We do a lot of knocking doors and it's good for the first couple of hours but then it gets old--like super old! Elder Warner is awesome. I love him. I can learn a lot from him. He is a good, honest guy that has the Idaho work ethic, so that's even better! The other night we were sitting there and talking about home (a very dangerous pastime) and I showed him the picture I have of me and the Cadillac. We kept on talking and then he was like. "I know you! We've met before at a basketball game." Really odd. I guess he was with a Shelley kid and I walked past. They said something about me and he called my name out. I turned and gave him the "who-are-you-look" and kept walking. Weird, right? I totally know how small this world is. Hyrum Stonehocker, from Shelley, is coming to this mission at the end of the month. I think the world is going to get even smaller!

Elder Warner fixing my bike.

So Melvin didn't get baptized....He doesn't think that financially he can pay a full tithe but he was more than willing to pay as much as he could. I guess that the interview with the district leader didn't go so good. Melvin got really ticked off that the district leader kept asking questions about tithing. He was so mad. When I saw him the next day, he asked why I didn't come and shut the guy up. He said if he saw him again, he was going to hit him. I don't doubt that! He meant it!  I got him calmed down. So that's good and he is still going to come to church...just as long as the other elder isn't there.

Extracted from my tire.

I got to give my first blessing and the spirit was so strong! I was so scared. I thought "I hope that the sisters ask Elder Warner to give the first blessing so I can copy him and see how he does it." But the sister asked that I give her the blessing. I said yes and gave the first blessing of my life! I felt total peace. Once I started, it just came to me and I said what was in my mind. I know I spoke to that sister what God himself would have told her if He was there. After I said amen, she stood up and looked at me and just said "holy crap! the priesthood power is real." I never realized the power God entrusted me with until that moment. It was amazing. Elder Warner gave the next blessing and I was asked to give the third sister a blessing. By the time we were done, I was in tears. Thank heaven you sent me out with handkerchiefs!  It was an absolutely powerful highlight of the week for sure!

Another great thing that happened is we were out knocking doors and we were tired of it so I decided I'd have to pee by the time we got to the church. So I said I had to pee. Well, I didn't realize how close we were to the church. We pulled in and there was a lone car there. A guy was just getting back into it. We pulled in and he asked if we were the missionaries. I said we were. He said that he was a less active member and he wanted to come back. He had come to the church hoping to find some one and was about to leave when we pulled up. Super awesome! God sure works in mysterious ways!

I hope that you have an awesome week!

Love,
   Elder Kniffen

Loving the fall colors!

Surprise Transfer!

Shortest companionship ever! Good-bye Elder Plant!

On Monday the 29th around 9:45 p.m. Elder Plant and I were just hanging out writing home and I thought I heard the phone go off.  So I walked to get it off the couch and I saw that President Gerber had just called, so I hurried to call him back.  He answered and said my call had been changed...he needed me to leave the Northville area. The APs would be by the next morning at 7:30 a.m. to grab me.  Can I be packed by then?  I said I could and he thanked me for being willing to serve, then hung up.

Sister Barb Thompson

So I packed all of my stuff and stressed out!  I called and let Barb know.  I didn't even get to say good-bye to any of my people.  I was not thinking that's how I would leave Northville but I guess I get to learn to rise to the occasion. I'm good now. I was really stressed out about leaving the night before. Oh! I was so sick. It was bad! When I found out where I was going and who my companion was, I was okay.  Now I'm loving it!

I'm now in Plymouth.  It is a biking area. My companion's name is Elder Warner. He's from Rigby, Idaho. It's so awesome. We know all the Idaho ways. So when I say something, he knows exactly what I'm talking about. It's great! Two days in a biking area and my bike broke down! Luckily, Elder Warner worked as a mechanic before he came out here, so he fixed my bike for me. I just held it for him while he worked on it. It was really bad! The plastic casing that goes into the frame and holds the wire to my front derailer got sucked in. I couldn't turn right or shift gears. We took it back to the apartment and tried to get it out and the cable snapped and the casing broke.  I was really unhappy! I about ripped the office elder's head off when I called to tell him to get a hold of Mom! I was so not happy! But it actually was a lot easier to fix than I thought at the start. There was an extra bike at the apartment the Elder that I replaced left, so I rode that bike for a day or so while we worked on mine. Now its fixed and I'm riding it again. I also taped it so it's safe. The only way that I could really describe how I feel is that song by Queen "Bicycle  Race" -- "I want to ride my bicycle! I want to ride my bike..." ha-ha, its perfect!

I did get to watch General Conference at the stake center. We had an investigator with us. His name is Melvin, He's 81. He smells like Grandpa Kniffen and it makes me smile. He's pretty much deaf and blind but he's awesome! He is planning to be baptized this weekend. I'm so excited for that! I hope it works out.

I don't quite know why I'm here yet but it feels good and I am doing the right stuff so whatever is suppose to happen will happen. I love you. I'll send you some pictures next week.

Love,
    Cooper