A thankful heart (and full stomach, too)

Date: Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 5:06 AM
Subject: Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey Everyone!

It's crazy that Thanksgiving is already here! The time just goes so fast... I'm going to be back in Utah before any of us know it! Already almost 3 months of my Mission is gone!

Anyway, I'm sure you're all wondering what we're doing for Thanksgiving. Well, we heard from the Zone Leaders that we can go to a members home and have dinner there and so we phoned up this really amazing Family and we are seeing them for dinner tomorrow! We are both so excited, when we were on the phone with them they were asking us all about a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and it sounds like it is going to be amazing! I love dinner appointments. We have that one tomorrow night, one on Saturday, another on Sunday, and another on Tuesday! We've had a lot of dinner appointments here and they are so much fun and the food is great!

Yesterday we were at Attingham Park again and they let us go for a walk around the park. We went to a part of the park where the deer stay and we got within 20 yards of some of them, it was amazing! It was so nice and relaxing to be out there in nature again. It reminded me of when I shot my deer last year and Elder Woolsey and I were talking about hunting and camping the whole time, it was great. In a way it really does feel like Thanksgiving, I love it.

Last week on P-Day we taught a man named Ian and he is great. From what we can tell he is a very kind and loving father and husband and just a great person all around. They even have my Missionary Scripture- "Ye are the Light of the world" on their piano! Anyway, he's a great man, but that night he asked us a couple of really tough questions and we said we'd have to get back on him. We're seeing him again next week and we're hoping we'll be able to answer them. Other than that we are seeing a man named Phil who is really nice. We're getting to be good friends with him, and we've taught him 4 times I think. He isn't progressing too quickly, but he is keeping the commitments we give him so that's good. Oh yes and on Monday night we saw a couple of less-actives, Sister Perks and Sister Wittman. They are both amazing Sisters and I'm so happy to know that I will know them for eternity! Sister Perks made us a pizza while we were there and they are both just so nice to us. While we were with Sister Wittman we got to sing with her and I played the piano, it was great! I just love all the amazing people we get to work with here, I wish you could meet them!

Last Saturday morning we played football with a few Ward Members and it was a lot of fun. They are so much better than us. If the U.S. played Great Britain in a Football game, we'd get creamed. But then again, if we played them in a Basketball game they'd get creamed. I think I'm getting better at Football though, I guess you'll find out when I get back!

We've been having better success setting up appointments with QGC's and it's amazing. When I was with Elder Ayers he was always setting up appointments and I never thought I would be able to do it and now I am! It's difficult though because most people aren't in when they said they'd be and so a lof of our appointments fall through. It's great though, because the Lord still places us in the paths of people who will listen to us. We get on these appointment chains where we will go to one appointment and it will fall through, then we do some work in that area and get another appointment in another area. We go to that appointment and it falls through and we then are placed in the path of someone who will give us another appointment. I think the Lord is guiding us to someone who is really prepared by these appointment chains. It's kind of fun anyway! The hand of the Lord really is in this work.

Thanks for all of the prayers and support and everything, it's much appreciated. Oh and the letters are amazing as well. They really uplift me every time I read them! I'm sorry it will take me so long to respond to them though, I'll do my best! Keep them coming though, the Lord knows I need your support through prayers as well as letters. Our area is a really difficult one. Will you pray for the people here? I know that we will see miracles here, and I'm excited for it. Also, will you pray for the Ward to be ready to receive new members through Baptism? The Lord will bless us all for our work (This week I learned that Prayer is a form of work, see BD-Prayer) in behalf of those here. Prayer changes things!

Well, last I checked the Church is still true. That right there is something that is amazing. We have the truth once again on the earth! We have a Prophet once again on the earth! What a wonderful Church. Joseph Smith was a true Prophet and he did see God the Father and Jesus Christ in that grove of trees all those years ago. I know that the sacrifices that he went through to be the Lord's instrument in restoring the truth were worth it. And so are our sacrifices to share this knowledge with the world. Which reminds me, how are your Missionary experiences going? Are you finding people for the Missionaries to teach? The Missionaries there need your help so much. There is so much potential in Member-Missionary work, it's just amazing. Will you work to have at least 1 Missionary experience a week? Even in Provo this is possible. Pray for it. Think about it. Expect it. Expect the Lords help with it. I know that He wants to help us do Missionary work, and He will. He will bless us so much for our efforts. This work is the greatest in the world. Of all the things that I am I am most thankful for the fact that I am a Missionary. It makes me so happy! I love this work. I love Jesus Christ. He lives and loves us so much. The power of the Atonement is real and we can experience it daily. The power of the Priesthood is real. Miracles do happen, big and small. God lives and loves us. He is there for us to speak with anytime, anywhere, and about anything. Our happiness is what is most important to God. I know that as we give our wills to him, for that is really the only thing that is ours to give, then He will make us happier than we ever thought possible. I love you all so much, keep up the amazing work!! God bless you for your love and support to me!

Love,

Elder Rowley

On bended knee

Date: Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 4:26 AM
Subject: Lots of Love from Shrewsbury!

Hello Everyone!!

Wow it's been an incredible week. It all goes so fast, but I just love it all just the same. Being a Missionary is so much fun.

Friday we had Zone Conference and we experienced the power of Revelation. The whole thing was planned on bended knee and it was obvious. They taught us how to have Quality Gospel Conversations (our new key indicator) and also how to set up appointments. The spirit was so strong, all of us knew that it came from the Lord himself. That day was the day our mission changes forever, and I'm so blessed to be a part of it! We are excited to have plans to at least double the amount of Baptisms we have as a Mission and it is so exciting. Will you pray for us to have success in doing this? We are going to see great miracles in Great Britain in the little while that I'm here and for a long while after that. Oh I'm so excited!

Well, this week is the week the excitement began when on Monday Elder Woolsey and I had 23 QGC's with 3 set up appointments! It was my first time setting up an appointment to go teach someone and because of the training from Zone Conference, I was able to do it well! It's so exciting. Then yesterday we were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and we together got something like 20 QGC's with 3 more appointments! Oh I love this, it's amazing!

On Sunday we got to go to Stake Conference and it was great. We were a bit late so we got to sit in a little room and watch the speakers on a TV. It was my first Stake Conference in Great Britain and guess who spoke? President and Sister Bullock! It was great, their talks were amazing! The theme of the Conference was Missionary work and we are all really excited to have more of the members help in finding people for us to teach. Will you pray for the members of the Shrewsbury Ward and Newtown Branch to have success in finding people for us to teach? I know that if we all pray together then we will see, and be part of great miracles in these areas. I'm so blessed to have all of your help and support! How are your Missionary experiences? I'd like to hear some in the letters and e-mails home! Are you finding people for the Missionaries to teach?

Anyway, now to the exchange with the Zone Leaders! It's been so much fun, I've been with Elder Wiese (pronounced 'visa') from Germany! They just keep putting me with these Germans. And I love it! I've really come to love Germans, Sweedish people, Finnish people, and especially the Brits. I love growing to love people! Anyway, so last night we were tracting and within about half an hour we had a few QGC's and 2 more appointments! It was amazing, Elder Wiese has taught me so much! I love learning from other Missionaries, it's great! Oh yes, and last night he cut my hair. It's pretty short now, I'm hoping to get you pictures soon and you can see how much fun we had that night!

Well, the church is true, what else matters? I know it is true, I just know it. The hope for Salvation really is like a protective helmet, if we desire the Celestial Kingdom more than anything else, then we will obtain it. I'm so excited to meet our Father in Heaven again one day, it's going to be such an amazing day. He really is there for us. Prayer does work, I've seen so many answers to my prayers every single day of my Mission so far. Fasting and prayer is powerful. I've seen a great change in the lives of those around me as I've fasted for them. Miracles are possible. Jesus is the Christ and He lives and loves us. Think about that: Jesus Christ is alive. He is walking, breathing, talking somewhere, right this very moment. That is amazing. And because of that we can live again as well. The Gospel is true. If we live like Jesus Christ and live His Gospel then we will obtain Salvation. It is possible for each and every one of us. No matter how hard things may get in life the Atonement makes up for it, the Atonement can deliver us from any trial, temptation, sorrow, or pain we will ever go through. The book of Mormon is the word of God. It is the way to a testimony. If you are doubting the truth of the Gospel, read the Book of Mormon. If you are ever feeling down and depressed, read the Book of Mormon. If you feel that you are unworthy and temptation is pressing upon you, read the Book of Mormon. It can bring us closer to Jesus Christ and to God. Read the Book of Mormon. We owe it to those who wrote it, (see Jacob 4:1-3) to those we love, and to God. He wants us to be close to Him and the Book of Mormon can do that. I love that book so much. The Church is true. Keep up the amazing work, your help and support to me is much needed and appreciated. I couldn't be doing as well as I am if it weren't for all of your help. Thanks for making me who I am today! Keep the letters coming. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Rowley

Addendum: I asked Luke what service project he does at the National Trust. This is his response:

Oh I just saw your question about the National Trust, we usually help out in a place called the walled garden, it's really cool. Hundreds of years ago it was a garden, and recently they've restored it, it's amazing. We do things like shovel manure and put it on the soil, or dig up new beds for plants and things, or water plants, or one week we actually squished caterpillars, it was pretty fun!

Christmas mail & packages

Just an FYI for anyone wanting to send Christmas cards or packages to Luke:

The mission office has requested packages be sent to the mission home address (see second address listed on left sidebar) and that they are mailed well before the Christmas rush, in order to ensure they are delivered in a timely fashion.

If mailed before Thanksgiving, any letters or cards be mailed directly to to Luke's flat (top address in left sidebar). The next transfer is December 10th, so anything sent after Thanksgiving ought to be sent to the mission home office, just in case.

Thanks!

Rowley in the House

Date: Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 4:41 AM
Subject: I Love You All!!

Hello Again!

Another week has come and gone so fast... it's incredible how fast the time flys! It only makes sense though, we are constantly working just about every hour of the day and I love it. There is nowhere else I would rather be than here on my Mission right now! It's been so much fun and I've grown so much already, I'm so excited that I get to be here for another 22 months!

Last week after P-Day we visited the first brick building in Shrewsbury. And guess what it's called? Rowley House! It was built by William Rowley a long time ago, I'm not sure exactly how long. Anyway, I'm really curious if we're related to him, can you send me some more pedigree charts? It's actually getting me kind of excited to do family history work someday!

On Friday we got to visit Newtown again and it was amazing. Elder Woolsey felt the great potential that is there just as I have before and still do. The branch there is really struggling though. The Branch President has been in for about 6 years and just last week the Branch was almost split up. They really need your prayers and faith, so will you pray for the members, and specifically for the less-active members, of the Newtown Branch? We're working to get as many people as possible to pray for this area because it really needs a miracle right now. I know that we can all see a miracle here and I'm excited to share it with you when it happens. Although the Lord could delay our petitions for Newtown for months or maybe years, I know that a miracle will happen there!

Thank you for praying for my mouth to be opened and filled with words, it has happened. I'm always going to be working on speaking with people, but I feel that I have really improved in the last couple weeks. I am worrying less and less about what to say when I speak with people and my faith that my mouth will be filled with the words to day has increased. Thank you so much!!

The other night Elder Woolsey and I were doing some tracting and got drenched, it was amazing. I am really loving the rain, it is so beautiful! I just bought myself an umbrella so I don't worry, I'll keep dry. Anyway, the next night we were tracting a street near that one and at one door a really nice older lady answered the door. We spoke quite a bit about the Gospel with her and she reminded me a lot of Aunt Edna, it was amazing. She has a friend over there in Utah who writes to her and I've been hoping and praying for her friend to tell her more about the church so she will join someday. As we stood there and spoke with her I could picture her joining the church, it was incredible! I've been able to do that with a lot of people, I really love it. We really are all brothers and sisters and children of our Heavenly Father!

On Monday we got to go on an exchange with the District Leader and his companion. His companion, Elder Ritter from Germany, came here to Shrewsbury. He is right our from the MTC and is already an amazing Missionary, I learned so much from him! I really grew to love him in the one day that we spent with each other. I really enjoy growing to love people unconditionally, I love feeling just a little portion of the infinite love of our Father in Heaven!

Things with Elder Woolsey are tough but fun. He has been on his mission for almost 18 months now. Every time we see a plane go by he says "hey, guess how far away that plane is?" and then "6 and a half months!" And thats when I say "21 and a half months for me!" And I tell him how he is going to go home and be jealous of me still being here! He is a great Missionary and I'm learning a lot from him.

Well, I guess that's about all for this week. I love you so much, your prayers and support and letters and packages and everything mean so much to me. I wouldn't be nearly as great of a Missionary if it weren't for you. Thanks for making me who I am today! Oh and to those who have written me letters, I'm sorry it's going to take me a long time to reply! We only have about a couple hours each week to write letters with all we do on Preparation day so I'm a little limited in what I can do. But I will do my best to write you back!

The Church is so true and I love it so much. Being a Missionary is the greatest thing any person can do, whether you're a Member-Missionary or a Full-Time Missionary. Joseph Smith was a Prophet and Thomas S. Monson is the living Prophet on the earth today. Jesus Christ is the head of the church through Thomas S. Monson. The power of the Holy Ghost is real and we can enjoy it every day of our lives. I wish I could share with you a hundredth part of what I'm learning each morning in study and throughout each day, but I cannot. I now know what they meant when they talked about that in the Book of Mormon. That book IS true no matter what anyone else says. It will change our lives every time we read it and we can grow closer to God by abiding by it's precepts than by any other books precepts. I've said it before and I'll say again that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of my testimony. Jesus is the Christ and He loves us unconditionally. Heavenly Father lives and loves us so much. I know that as we give our all in our prayers to Him, He will open the windows of Heaven and we will be blessed like never before. I'm experiencing that here. I'm experiencing I say, Become a Missionary. There is nothing greater.

I love you all. Keep the letters coming! And keep praying for me and all those around me here. Are you getting the blessings I'm sending you?

With much Love,

Elder Rowley

p.s. You can mention on the blog about the fall here, it's beautiful! Elder Woolsey and I were at Attingham Park yesterday and we thought we were looking at a painting of some trees on a hill-side in the distance but we could tell it was real, it was amazing! (This was in a separate e-mail to me.)

Nowhere else on earth

Date: Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 4:26 AM
Subject: I Love You!!

Hello Again!

Wow another week has come and gone so fast... it's crazy how fast it all goes! Well, it's been an exciting and difficult week. Every week is like that though, and I absolutely love it.

Last Tuesday when I was still with Elder Ayers we got let into a home and taught a man the Restoration, I think I told you about it. Well, we went to our appointment with him and he wasn't there so we phoned him up on Halloween Night right before we did weekly planning. He is an amazing man. He asked "can I come to your church?" and he has so many amazing questions and he reminds me a lot of myself when I was first getting into the Book of Mormon. We were really excited to see him at church on Sunday but he didn't make it. A friend of his passed away and he wasn't doing too well on Sunday. But since then we've met with him a couple times and it has pretty much been just question and answer sessions. He asks us a question and we are guided by the spirit to a scripture in the Book of Mormon that answers it for him, it's so amazing. The spirit was so strong in the lesson we taught him last night, I just LOVE it!! The only sad part is that he is moving to Bristol in a couple weeks so we will only get to teach him for that much longer then hopefully turn him over to the Missionaries there. It's alright though, I've learned and grown so much from teaching him!!

How was everyone's Halloween? We had to be in after 5:00 p.m. and we did our weekly planning session, it was actually pretty fun and we got a lot done! It sure was the most different Halloween of my life!


Oh yes and I haven't even told you about Elder Woolsey! He is amazing, I love him so much already. He is really good at finding common ground with people and complimenting them, it's great! He is from St. George and he pretty much grew up in Bryce Canyon and that area so he is a lot like the Rowley side of the family. A LOT. It's amazing, so many times I just have to tell him "hey that's something my Dad would tell me back at home" or something like that. We get along pretty well and it's a lot of fun. If there's anything else you'd like to know about him then let me know!

On Sunday we got to have dinner with the Bishop and his family and it was wonderful. Where he lives is a lot like Duchesne, lots of trees and fields and a lot of wildlife, it's beautiful. The meal was amazing, as are all of our dinner appointments. I think I'm going to really miss the English dessert when I get back to Utah. It's usually a nice big, warm piece of pie covered with ice cream and custard. Oh I just love it!

Well, that's about all the news I have for this week. I just love being a Missionary so much, I know I say that all the time but it is just so true. The words "England Manchester Mission" meant so little to me on the night of May 21st, but now they mean so much more. I love it here, there is nowhere else on earth I would rather be right now.

The church is true and it is amazing. The gospel can and will give us the most happiness of anything in the world because it is real and it is true. Jesus Christ really does live and loves us so much. God lives as well and wants to see us happy. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and it will change our lives every time we read it and pray about it. I'm seeing it change lives here and it's changing my life every day. It is the keystone of my testimony. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and the first vision really did happen. Nothing anyone ever says can disprove that. I know it is true, I just know it! I'm realizing that more than anything else my own conversion to the Gospel is becoming deeper and deeper as I serve Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and my brothers and sisters here in Great Britain. I love this great work with all my heart!

Have a wonderful week and I will too! Help out the Missionaries there, they need your help more than any of us know. You are a key part of the success of Missionary work there. I love you all so much, keep up the great work! Thanks for all the letters, love, support, prayers, help, everything. You do so much for me and it is really blessing the lives of every soul that is here. My companions, the ward members, our investigators, those we talk with on the street or in their homes, all of them are blessed for your efforts. Thank you!!

Much much Love,

Elder Rowley