Adjusting and Seeing Miracles Already

Date: Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 4:36 AM
Subject: More Love from Elder Rowley

Hello again!

Oh it's so good to hear from everyone! How is everyone doing? How is school and work and friends and everything? How's the ward? Please tell them I love them! I have so much to tell you, I don't even know where to begin. My week has been incredible so far and P-day is today (Wednesday). Thanks for taking care of everything for me! Oh and I'm glad you got to talk to *that lady, I was really excited to see her and excited for you to get her call!

Where to begin I don't even know... I had to write things down so I would remember everything! Things go by so fast here, it's amazing that it's already been a whole week since I've been here! Only 5 weeks left in the transfer, but I'm thinking the Lord will keep me here for a little while, hopefully through Christmas. Well, first of all, music is such a blessing. Elder Ayers and I sing every morning before companion study and the Shrewsbury ward is really excited to finally have another Tenor to sing in the ward choir. I'm so happy to know that music is really important here, my background in music is blessing me so much!

Oh and Guess what?! We went to Wales on Sunday!! It was SO beautiful, really green and foggy when we were there and there were some mountains! Actually they were more like hills, but I love it so much. The branch there is very small but the spirit was strong during the Sacrament and other meetings. Elder Ayers and I got to prepare and bless the Sacrament and also I shared my testimony and he gave a talk, it was really good. Oh and the other day we ordered our Welsh name-tags, that'll be interesting to see the name of the church in Welsh! Oh and I'm happy to remember that I put Welsh for my ancestry when I was filling out my Mission papers, that's so amazing that I'm serving where our ancestors came from!

Here's a few of our experiences so far:

We had an appointment fall through so we decided to do some tracting in the area and when we decided on a street and prayed about it Elder Ayers and I received different answers as to where to go. We decided to pray again and when we opened our eyes there was a boy and a lady who we talked to and they seemed really interested and are hopefully going to get back to us, it was amazing!

Another time we were tracting and we talked to a guy outside his home and got talking about the Book of Mormon. We got to share our testimony of it and we gave it to him and he said he needed three weeks to read it and he would come to church and tell us how it went, it was brilliant! I wish you could have seen me after these experiences, I was SO happy!

This one was my favorite so far. We were teaching a family and they have a daughter who's boyfriend is investigating the church. Wonderful family, it makes me so happy to teach them. The spirit was strong in the lesson and I got to share my testimony of the Atonement and teach about it. Right before we left our investigator said that I really touched his heart and I was literally filled with joy to hear that. It means that the spirit was with me and I taught and testified by the spirit and he (our investigator) opened his heart to it and let it in. Oh it made me so happy, I was so excited when we left the place. Oh and we got an appointment with them for tea and FHE next week!! I'm really excited.

My favorite thing so far has been teaching and sharing my testimony by the spirit, there is nothing like that in the world. It makes me so happy to know that I'm making a difference. Every night Elder Ayers and I come home completely exhausted and I never have trouble sleeping at night, it's amazing. This work is the hardest thing I've ever ever ever done, but it's so worth it in every way. I love it so much. I'm growing closer to Jesus Christ every single day and at the end of every day I'm happy to know that I'm a better man than I was at the beginning of the day. The church is true and nothing else matters. Share it with everyone you meet and have no fear. Families can be together forever. God lives and loves us more than we will ever know. He wants to bless us as much as He can. I love this Gospel so much!

You are probably wanting my address so here it is:

3 Bank Farm Mews
Shrewsbury
SY3 9DQ
England

Let everyone know that I love the letters and I really need all of the support. Like I said before, this is the hardest thing I've ever done and I really couldn't do it without all of the incredible support. Oh and if anyone wrote me in the last week or two I don't have the letters yet, they're all at the Mission Office until the Zone Leaders pick it up for me.

Please pray for me to get lost in the work and stop being homesick. I really need your prayers and I'm so thankful for them. I love you all SO much.

Love Love Love Love,

Elder Rowley



*see previous post

(From Dalene: You heard him. Please send more prayers STAT! It sounds like letters to his flat would be good, too.)

sightings

The phone rings this afternoon and it's for me. I hear a woman's voice on the line saying, "You don't know me...but I just got back from England and I saw your son. I just wanted you to know he looks great and he's doing well and he's going to have a great mission."

Apparently last Wednesday this woman, who was in England doing genealogy decided to visit the temple grounds in Preston. Her group happened upon a bunch of missionaries and because they love the missionaries (she served a mission and she has a son currently serving in Detroit) they stopped to visit. "Are any of you from Provo?" She asked. That's how she met Elder Rowley. They visited for a bit and he gave her our contact info.

"Do you have any messages for home?" she asked as she was leaving.

"Just tell them all I love them," he replied.

From the office of the President

Elder Rowley with President and Sister Bullock

Elder Rowley with his trainer, Elder Ayers


excerpt:

Your son has arrived to the England Manchester Mission (EMM) safe and ready to go to work as a missionary...

The first month or two can be challenging for a missionary with many adjustments in their life. But it normally does not take long until they capture the full vision of their calling, gain a love for the people of the U.K. and get lost in the work. Please be supportive of the church's policy on communications which allows missionaries to send and receive e-mails only to family members. Anyone not part of the family must communicate through letters. Occasional efforts by some to circumvent this policy, such as family members forwarding emails from non-family members, is outside the spirit of this principle. The happiest and most effective missionaries are those who limit thoughts of their pre-mission life and get completely lost in the work of serving the Lord.

(from Dalene and Shane: We thank you for helping us support Luke by being compliant with the mission's policy on communication. Snail mail can be sent to the address at the top left of the blog. For those of you who are local, we usually have room for a page or two in our written letters if you want us to include an occasional note from you with our weekly letter.)

I heart real-time e-mail!

date Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 7:17 AM
subject Love from Elder Rowley!

Family!!

How is everyone? What's going on in Provo? Are you helping out the Missionaries there?

Well, I made it. I'm here in *Shrewsbury with my trainer, Elder Ayers! He is from Canada and I love him so much already. I can already tell it's going to be a great 6 or 12 weeks! We have 2 areas, which means 2 area books and lots of work to do. It'll be fun though. We do have a car in this area so I'll probably get to drive soon! However, I do have to learn manual, but that will be fun.

I've got a bit of homesickness right now, but nothing serious. I've absolutely loved all of the letters, keep them coming! I've decided to get lost in the work. I had really planned on doing it anyway, but I'm going to really focus on it right now in this first little while. So really don't worry about me, I'm doing great!

I arrived here last night and not 3 hours after they gave me my trainer he had me on splits! We did a Reach Out activity to try to get non-active people back to church and it went alright. We went around to their houses and gave them pamphlets about the ward and things and we had a little bit of success, it was great. Just this morning we had personal and companion study and then had weekly planning for 3 hours! So much planning goes into this work... I didn't ever think about how much. Right now we are at the Shrewsbury library in the town centre (yes, I'm going to start spelling things weird and using different words and writing the date backwards).


You are going to love the pictures of our flat, Elder Ayers says it was converted from a barn. We have wood beams above our beds and the carpet is old and the couches are ripped up and there is very little space in it, but I'm really learning to love it. I already feel like a very different person, I'm learning and growing so much!

Oh and yesterday we got to eat at the Mission Home with President and Sister Bullock! We also got to have a meeting for a while just to get us a little oriented with things and then we had a testimony meeting, it was all amazing. For lunch we had chicken enchiladas with rice and salad, it was a nice last supper before I try to cook on my own! I think I'll be fine though.

Well, I have felt the spirit of God more in the last 4 weeks than ever in my life. He really is there for us all the time if we are worthy of and in tune to the Spirit. Elder Ayers and I practice taught on the bus yesterday and it was amazing, we are already teaching with power and unity. I absolutely love the feeling of having the spirit testify to someone through me. To every young man reading this: GO ON A MISSION!! It's the hardest and most rewarding thing you'll EVER do! The Lord needs you, His children all over the world need you, and He will provide a way for you to make it. The church is true. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He loves us deeper than we can comprehend in this life. He is there for us in every pain, trial, sickness, or temptation we experience. I know that He lives! Prayer works and changes things. Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and really did see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and really did translate the Book of Mormon by the power of God. The book of Mormon really is true. It brings us to God and Jesus Christ. Please read that book again and again and again, it will change your life every single time you do. The church is true and nothing else matters. Share the Gospel with everyone you know.

I've got to go now, I'll write more next week, I promise! I LOVE YOU ALL!!

-Elder Rowley


*Shrewsbury is located in the county of Shropshire is on the border of north Wales and is bordered by Cheshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire. Shropshire is approximately 3 hours from London, an hour or so from Manchester and only 40 minutes from Birmingham. ("The Shire(s) must truly be a great realm." LOTR The Two Towers)

(from Dalene: Please send him letters snail mail--only 94 cent for an air-mail stamp. Also, if you have any simple-to-fix and quick recipes you want to send him that would be great, too!)

Tracting while in the MTC? That's hands on training!

My Dear Family!

I LOVE YOU! And oh do I love this work! We just got back from tracting and I'm a different person than I was a few hours ago. We didn't get in at all...and only got tow numbers for the Elders in this area, but it was still a great experience. Mom-A part of you was with me today. Just the things I was saying to a wonderful woman we talked to sounded like some things you would say. Thanks for that.


Other than that, Elder Stenborg and I are working hard and doing well. We practice-taught President Sorensen (the MTC President) for our Second Milestone. Oh and a Milestone is like a test for teaching the lessons. We've done 2 and we have 2 more.

OH! And I met President Bullock on Tuesday (the 9th)!! He is amazing, I love him already. I know he will take great care of me over the next two years, so don't ever worry! We got to eat dinner with him and then had interviews with him, it was great.

And guess who I'm sitting next to right now? Elders Perry and Knight! (note from Dalene: these are two Elders Luke "met" on Facebook before he even left. He was able to meet one of them in person at the Provo Temple before they left.) They are so much fun, I love them like brothers. We're all really alike it's great! I really feel so at home here.

There's so much I could tell you...oh! The Temple is beautiful! I forget if I told you about it already, anyway, it's great. We've been twice and we get to go one more time here. President Bullock said we can go twice a transfer! That's if we are close to it, but either way I'm excited.

(Luke then writes to each of us. Here are a few excerpts:)

...we now have only 5 days left in the MTC. It's my new home and I think I'm gonna miss it. I love it here!





My Sundays here have been vunderbar! (Wonderful) I forgot to tell about my District...we are mostly Americans, with my Swedish companion and one Brit. I love them. Some of them make fun of me, but it's alright. The other night I got complimented from one of the nice ones on doing well with it. They are nice most of the time now. I love the food! We ate at a pub and I had my first fish & chips and oh it was so good! I think I might stay here...You're coming to pick me up in 2 years.

He also got after Z~ for not writing and congratulated L~ on her 4.0 and said this to K~:

"My first day in the MTC was GREAT! You are going to love being a Missionary someday. You should read the Book of Mormon among your other chapter books!...Be good, I love you.

Well, this is probably going to be my last MTC letter to you. This time next week I'll be in the field and have my e-mail set up. I will only be able to e-mail family so you can expect an e-mail from me on Wednesday the 17th before that, I think. We'll see. Mom, look for my e-mail(s) in your junk mail on your g-mail. I'm pretty sure they'll go there first. Well, it's time for class. I love you all and I'll hear from you soon!

Love,

Elder Rowley

May the Spirit be with you!


(My two cents: the part about the other missionaries teasing him makes me want to both cry and go over to England and give a few 19-year-olds a piece of my mind. And, it's interesting to me that Luke sent a letter on 9/11 that answered every single question I asked him in my letter to him on 9/13. Cool!)

special delivery

This week we got three envelopes from the U.K. One arrived on Thursday--just three days after it was mailed. It contained a bunch of hand-written thank-you notes for the various family and ward-family members who have so generously helped send Luke off on his mission. Today the doorbell rang and I heard a man's voice say, "Special Delivery...from England." There were two more envelopes of thank-you cards. These had been delivered to our neighbors who live two blocks away and who happen to share our same house number. Despite repeated denials on the part of the post office that this could not possibly happen, we frequently get their mail and they frequently receive ours. It's been like this for years.

Resolving this regular mix-up has become more urgent of late because while it may be fine to wait a day or two extra to receive the electric bill, it's not at all OK to wait for a letter from our missionary.

No worries though. This week the owners of our doppelganger mailbox also happen to be sending off a missionary--their fourth I believe--the illustrious Matt Karlsven.

Bon voyage Matt. I guess we'll be looking forward to missionary mail from you, too, now. I promise to deliver them to your mom ASAP because we know how anxiously she'll be awaiting to hear from you.

First rejection and he's not even out of the MTC

The kid needs to start dating his letters (Shane says he can't date--he's a missionary!)--this must have been written sometime before 9/04)


Hello Rowley family!

There is so much I have to say...e-mail is so much faster than this, although it is very nice to get letters! I love you all so much. England is so weird. Or maybe it's normal and I'm weird. More about that later...guess what I'm doing right now? Listening to music on my new British CD Player! We just got back from town and it was really different, but amazing. I already love the people and wish I could tell them about the Gospel but we aren't allowed to yet. We already had a rejection experience though, this guy came up and asked how to join us (there were a lot of us Elders in town) then when one of us went to shake his hand he pulled his away and laughed and walked off. It hurts to see people reject Christ.

Anyway, I'm eating well and sleeping well and just feeling great all around. My preparation is paying off, thanks for that! I also feel your prayers blessing me daily. The work is tough and I feel overwhelmed, but I absolutely love it. I love my teachers and District and President Sorensen and his wife and pretty much everyone here. I feel at home here, there is no other place in the world I'd rather be.


In other news, we went to the Temple this morning, it was amazing. This Temple is so uniquely beautiful, I can't wait to send pictures. The whole place over here is just great. Oh and it's kinda raining right now, it's been doing that on and off ever since we got out of the Temple this morning. Before we went into the Temple it was blue *skyes...this weather is amazing.

(Personal notes to each of us)

Well, that's about all I have for now. Oh and by the way, my companion is 24 and engaged. And he is just about the most relaxed Elder (or Aldste in Swedish) in the MTC. The Lord has blessed me so much already and it hasn't even been a week! This is going to be a great two years!

The church is true no matter what anyone says. Obey God and you will be blessed. Expect trials. Do hard things. You are all amazing and I love you so much!

Love,

Elder Rowley

*he's turning British already!


Luke says there are no sisters there right now--so they have to use the sisters washroom

Finally!

Now that's more like it!
Royal Mail--I'll say!

Here's our first letter (it's not dated or postmarked, but I'm guessing it's from one of his first days):

Hello Family,

Well, I made it! And there is no way I'm coming home. Ever. I love being a missionary so much, life is so different! I have to be quick because it's almost time for lights out...or maybe I'll write this tomorrow morning at breakfast. I'll do what I can now.

This place is beautiful! I don't think it's really hit me yet that I'm in a different country, but I love it! Oh and thanks so much for the letters, I haven't had a chance to read any yet, but I'm excited to. You've made everyone here jealous of me!

My Companion is Elder Stenborg from Sweden and he is going back to Sweden for his mission, he is really cool and I love him.

Right now I'm sitting down eating golden crisp for breakfast. I think the staff is trying to help our culture shock...or maybe they just have this in England, who knows.

There are 68 of us here, no sisters (we've been using the sisters bathroom, it's weird!). Actually all of the bathrooms are strange, but not too strange. Things in general are different here. Don't be surprised when I star using words like "rubbish!"

Well, I'd better go. I love you all so much. Mom-stop missing me so much, I'm alright. Remember, when you miss me, go to work. There is plenty of Missionary work to do there in Provo!

I will write more later.

I LOVE YOU!

--Elder Rowley

Have you seen this child?

I posted the empty mailbox photo on Wednesday because that was the earliest I expected to hear anything. I didn't know if the MTC over there would let their missionaries have access to e-mail so I was expecting to get snailmail sometime this week.

Since then Shane and I have been waiting. And waiting. And waiting. L~ has prayed every day that Luke would write soon. We all miss him, but it seems like once those letters start coming regularly we will be OK.

I subscribe to the idea that no news is good news. I'm sure he arrived just fine and all is well. But after over a week I can't help but worry. What if his luggage got lost (mine did and I wore the same clothes for the first three days)? What if there is a transportation strike (there was one in Belgium during the entire first month I was out in the field--which meant no one from home heard from me and I didn't get any letters from home)?

Yesterday people started telling me I should call the MTC, because every mission has you write home the first day. The MTC here has you write home the first day. I thought maybe they did things differently in the foreign MTCs, but someone whose nephew went to the Brazil MTC said they got a call or an e-mail to say they had arrived safely. I also talked with a friend whose son went to the Preston MTC. They started getting e-mails a couple of days after he arrived. Hmmm.

And so my imagination starts to go a little crazy. Maybe Luke e-mailed and it went to junk mail. I checked all my junk mail (I tell you, I would not do that for just anyone. Ewwwww!). No e-mail from Luke. I thought maybe he forgot our e-mail addresses and sent something to his e-mail. Nope. I thought maybe he updated his facebook page. And so I joined facebook just so I could check his profile. (I wouldn't do that for just anyone either, but hi and thanks to all of you who immediately added me as a friend.)

Today I worry--what if he forgot my e-mail was henfeatherz with a "z" and some ordinary henfeathers person got my very first missionary e-mail from my son? That would be tragic!

I think if we don't get anything today I might have to break down and call. I believe if I have to do that I would do so with Shane's blessing. But you can bet that the very next letter I send will include all of our e-mail addresses and any other important contact information because I don't want to miss a thing!

Honestly if we don't hear from him soon I'm going to start posting his picture on milk cartons.

Or something...

waiting...