When it rains blessings, it pours

Date: Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 4:30 AM
Subject: Happy Valentines Day!

Hey!

Okay, so who over there is sending up all those Prayers for us? We have had such an incredible couple of weeks, just know that what I write here is only part of the blessings we are receiving! I love being a Missionary, and I love serving here on the Isle of Man with Elder Larson!

Well, our prayers are being answered. When it rains blessings, it pours! In the last 2 weeks we've had 9 new investigators so far and they are such incredible people, I'll tell you a bit about each of them.

The first is an amazing couple, *Peter and Chris, who seem like they were once members. Their questions are so amazing, they have really been prepared by the Lord. We're seeing them for the third time this weekend and hopefully we'll have them at Church on Sunday! We're excited to see them progress and we love them so much already. We just can't get over how prepared they are!

We've also started teaching a young man named Andy who is in his early 20's who is very prepared as well. He's had a hard past and he is looking forward to a turn-around in his life (repentance=conversion=
commitments! See PMG Ch. 11). He is very humble and we are very excited to see him progress in the Gospel! Pray for him to be able to get outside of his comfort zone.

On Monday we taught a man from Russia who is amazing. He accepted all that we taught very well but there is a bit of a language barrier. We've got him a copy of the Book of Mormon in Russian and we're excited to see him progress as well! We're seeing him again tomorrow.

Also on Monday we went to teach a young man named Larry and he had a friend there named John. They had some amazing questions for us and we got into some really deep doctrine a little bit! They seem to be accepting all we've taught them so far very well and we are seeing them again tomorrow as well!

Then yesterday... was probably another one of the best days of my Mission so far. We went to teach a lady named Wanda from Scotland (her accent is so cool!) and her two sons were there. All three of them accepted all we taught and they are excited to have us back again this weekend! We can see them being Baptised in the future!

Also yesterday we met a lot of amazing people and set up 4 pretty solid appointments! At one point we were trying by a potential and we saw a young lady trying to saw apart a pretty nasty bush. We asked her a couple times if she needed help and she politely declined. We looked at the situation (she was in no condition to be doing that kind of work) and helped her anyway, it was amazing. We were both excited to get to saw off those thick branches and move them for her. We even got to share a bit of the Plan of Salvation with her and set up a return appointment for this weekend! I LOVE doing service for people, especially when it's unplanned!

Oh yes and I'm sure you've seen by now, on Monday we visited the Tricketts, they are so amazing. We love them so much. They got us a couple of pedometers so we can see how many steps we take every day, they are so nice to us! We're praying for them.

Heavenly Father is just pouring out the blessings on us, thanks again for all of your prayers, they are being answered. Now as we have all these new investigators the next step is to get them coming to Church and reading in the Book of Mormon and Praying. If we will all pray for that to happen then these people, and this area, will be so blessed!! Miracles are happening here and I love it.

My Testimony has really been strengthened in the past couple weeks as well. I know that God does live and He does answer our prayers! The Book of Mormon really is the word of God and it does help us come closer to Him, more than any other book on the earth. Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and I know that Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's Prophet on the earth today. Jesus Christ is the head of this great Church, not President Monson. I know that Jesus Christ does live and He did suffer, bleed, die, and was resurrected to save us from physical and spiritual death. The windows of heaven are still open, God does still speak through His chosen Prophet. How blessed are we to live in this day and age? Never have a people of the Lord been as blessed as we are. We really are in the final seconds of this great war between good and evil. If we will fortify ourselves against evil, just as Captain Moroni fortified the Nephite lands and cities in the Book of Mormon, then we will win. I'm right in the middle of the war chapters in the Book of Mormon right now and I absolutely love them. I've discovered even more that what we give to our personal Scripture Study and Prayer is what we get. If we pour our whole heart and soul into these simple things then great things will be brought to pass. The Church is true and there is no other true Church on the face of the earth. We are so blessed to have the truth once again. We are so blessed to have things like the Ensign to help us do Missionary work. I recently read President Eyring's talk on Missionary work and it was amazing. Study that talk and keep praying for Missionary experiences! I'm not the only one on a Mission! Let me know about your Missionary experiences!

Anyway, have a wonderful week and please keep the letters coming!! Thanks to all those who have sent letters and packages and such, it's such a blessing! Thanks again for everything you do, all of the love and Prayers and support is much appreciated. I love being a Missionary and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! I love you!

Love,

Elder Rowley

*names have been changed to protect privacy