good fortune

Earlier this week Luke and I went to one of his favorite restaurants, P.F. Changs, with Luke's grandmother. Luke's fortune cookie contained this wise prediction:


You will soon be crossing the great waters.

Bon voyage, Luke!

the power of chocolate

I've taken all of the next week off so I can be at Luke's beck and call. I don't want to have any regrets about time not spent together before Luke leaves (because, you know, it's about time.)

Our plan is to hit a couple of movies, eat Indian food, go to the temple one more time and just enjoy each other's company. (OK, but I am not helping him pack. I'm no good at that. I don't help friends move away, either--I take in food, but I can't bring myself to pack.)

Today was cross-the-last-things-off-the-"to-get"-list day. Bank, Mall, Wal-Mart(sigh), lunch at Rhumbi Island Grill.

Check.

We entered the mall on the Nordstroms end (we never go there) because someone told me converters were cheap at Eddie Bauer. But Eddie Bauer no longer carries converters. We then needed to go towards the Macy's end, but something whispered "See's Candy" in my ear so we headed in the other direction first. Turns out it was not about the candy. As we were walking I spotted a girl I used to work with at the BYU Bookstore. (You know, some 25 years ago.) Here name is Julie Preece. I don't remember names very well, but I really got a kick out of Julie and have enjoyed bumping in to her around Provo for the past two decades about every 10 years or so. I remember her name and her face very well.

Here's the thing, Julie just happens to be from England. I hollered "Hi!" across the mall and went over to ask her from exactly what part of England she hails.

I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story. Of course she is from the Manchester Mission and she just happened to be there at the mall with her two sisters, also from there. They travel there frequently and therefore had wonderful tips for Luke about the people and about the food, and even how to economically plan a trip to go pick him up. It's always delightful to visit with Julie, but especially so when she had this wealth of information about her homeland she wanted to enthusiastically share with us.

There are no coincidences. Our encounter was certainly meant to be.

Moral of the story: One should always pay attention to a craving for fine chocolate.

this isn't your parents' mission

So this never happened when we (as in Shane and I) were missionaries.

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet and that marvel of social networking, Facebook, Luke has already "met" a few of the Elders who will be entering the MTC with him next week.

Here's a shout out to Elders Knight and Perry from the U.K. and Elder Bills from sunny CA. Luke got to meet Elder Bills in person yesterday as he just moved to Utah from San Diego. They did a session at the Provo Temple yesterday and went to lunch.

How cool is that?

it takes a village

Luke with Shane's mission president and his wife, President James and Sister Beverly Parker

FMP or Future Missionaries of Provo



We are overwhelmed by the love and support each and all of you have shown to us over the past few months, particularly today. Words are insufficient to express how much your presence with us today meant to us. It takes a village to send a missionary out into the world to serve the Lord. We know we have the best village in the entire world.

Thank you!

Much love,

The Rowleys

you've got mail

Well, not yet anyway. Last week I went to visit my favorite postal workers at the East Bay Post Office to find out about mailing and shipping to the U.K. (It's 94 cents for up to one oz. of letter and $37.50 to ship birthday packages up to 20 lbs. just in case you are interested.) The postal worker told me it would take two weeks to get a letter there, but he's only in the MTC for 19 days, so I thought I should start early. It was supposed to be a surprise, but since Luke caught me passing around note paper I'll spill. We had a mini-family reunion on Saturday with all of my siblings who came to here Luke speak on Sunday. I collected a few words of wisdom and even a recipe--my favorite line is when people wish him "Good luck with the language"--and put them all together to send off that day so he would have something waiting for him when he got there. (That's a little trick I learned from Shane who had a reputation throughout my branch in the MTC and throughout my entire mission for being the best boyfriend a girl could have writing to her.)

So Sunday I was talking to a friend whose daughter is currently touring Europe and she tells me they've been getting letters in three days.

Oh well.

Anyway, I'm grateful for the examples in my life who have taught me how to be a good missionary mom. I'm a good e-mailer, but I need to learn to be a good snail-mailer, too, as word on the street is that real mail is still a good boost for those out in the field even with the immediacy of mail over the world wide web.

how cool is this?

Save the date

The meeting at which Luke will speak (or--as I affectionately refer to it--the meeting formerly known as a farewell) will be held on Sunday, August 17 at 1 p.m., but if you'd like to join us, please plan on arriving early. (Our gym is closed for repairs so the only overflow will be in the foyer.)

Please come.

For address and directions you can e-mail us at sandrowleyATgmailDOTcom.