Loving it but still looking (and praying) for some families

Date: Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 4:59 AM
Subject: Hello from the Isle of Man!

Hey!

These weeks go so fast, have I ever told you that? It's incredible. Being a Missionary is the BEST!! I'm going to miss being a full-time set apart Missionary when this is all over. I am doing well and we have had a good week.

I'm so glad to hear about Dad. We really do live in a day of miracles and it's all by our combined Prayers and Faith. Thanks to all those who have helped out in any way, I hope you're getting the blessings from the prayers I've asked for you! I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people, and now so many around the world!

On Sunday evening we got a phone call just after we did our nightly planning. It was a ward member and he referred us to one of his best friends. So on Monday we had a couple of appointments fall through and we decided to contact him. When he came to the door we were welcomed with a big smile and a nice "come in!" I can't tell you how much I love hearing those words. It is very rare for us to just get let into somebody's home like that. This man is amazing though. His name is *Ben and we love him already. He is so positive and has some incredible philosophies that are right in line with the Gospel. We talked with him and shared some scriptures with him that went along with some of his ideas and it was great, the spirit was very strong. We thought we were pretty blessed by that alone, but when we were on the way home the phone rang and it was our member who gave us Ben's contact details! The first words out of his mouth were "what have you done to my friend?" He explained that Ben gave him a ring right after we left and was in tears, Ben felt the spirit! Ben went over to the member's home that evening and the member (Brother J) printed off one of the scriptures we shared with him. Last night we had dinner with the J family (which was amazing) and Brother J told us that our impact on Ben was huge and to use the Spirit to know how to further work with him. We are so excited to see things progress with Ben, and I'll keep you updated!

Last Thursday we had dinner with the Clarke's again, I just love them. They are like our surrogate parents over here, I love it. They are always so kind and welcoming and loving to us every time we see them. We even bumped into them in town center when we were street contacting the other day! The spirit is so strong when they around, it's amazing. At dinner they told us of how John Taylor served here on the Isle of Man and he even dusted his feet off on the way out of Castletown! I don't know the full story, you'll have to look it up, but apparently after that Castletown (which used to be the capital of the Island) was pretty much ruined. The capital was moved to Douglas (where it currently is) and most of the major businesses and things in Castletown shut down. The work there is still tough, but it does move on. In 1998 (I think) Elder Holland came over here and went to the top of Snaefell Mountain (the tallest point on the Island) and rededicated it for Missionary work. And the Clarke's were there! It's amazing, this little Island has so much history, I love it! Oh and last P-day we got to go to the Manx Museum and see some of the history of this amazing place, I'll tell you more about that later. I love this Island more and more everyday!

On Saturday we had dinner with the Hymas' again, it was amazing. They are the couple from Salt Lake that we had Christmas Eve dinner with and they help us out so much. We taught them a lesson and long story short we hope to be able to contact a friend of theirs in the future. We are working better with the members here and it's great, I love it. President Hinckley was right, working with the members is always the best way to do Missionary work. And it's more fun!

In other news we contacted an inactive member who has been inactive for nearly 30 years. He shows little signs of coming back to church but he is a great man, and he showed us something pretty cool. Check out Scarlett Point sometime, he's got cameras on this lighthouse/radio tower thing. He was showing it to us and you can see live video of some of the island! Check it out.

We are really anxious to be teaching a Family, we almost had one, but it fell through. Please please keep Praying for Heavenly Father to prepare a Family for us to teach and for Him to guide us to them or to guide them to us. It will work, I know it, and this Family is going to be so blessed for it!

Well, the Church is still true. My testimony grows more and more everyday and I love it. I'm not going to sugar-coat it though, this work is tough. In no way would I every say that Missionary work is easy, anyone who says that is lying. But it is worth it. Nobody said it was easy, but it is worth it. Every single trial I go through I just have to remind myself that a few bumps and bruises here and there are good for us. Heavenly Father knows that and He is mindful of it always. He does love us. He has called another Prophet to the earth today because of that. No matter what anyone else ever says, that is true. I just love the people here--British accent and all. Being a Missionary is amazing because you get to experience just a little bit what Heavenly Father's love for all of us is like. He is our perfect Father and He does know us better than we know ourselves. Prayer is powerful and it does work. The Gospel is true. Jesus is the Christ and He does love us. He did suffer, bleed, die, and was resurrected for our sakes. I love bearing His name over my heart physically as well as spiritually, every single day. It's amazing being a Missionary, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and it is the keystone of my testimony. It does bring us closer to God. The more we give in our personal study of the scriptures the more we will get. I have experienced that. I love this Gospel, and I know that it really is the only path to true and lasting happiness in this life and Eternal Life in the next!

Anyway, have a wonderful week. You are amazing people and I love you all so much. The Lord will bless us for our efforts to serve Him, even if those efforts are imperfect. Keep up the amazing work. Keep the letters coming!! Thanks for all of the letters, love, Prayers, and support you give already. It does help. Your Prayers in behalf of those here are working, keep it up. Thanks for everything, I love you!!

Love,

Elder Rowley

*not his real name