Seems like serving in Africa

Date: Wed, May 27, 2009 at 8:42 AM
Subject: Hello from Rochdale!

Hello Everyone!

How are you all this week? How's Provo? Tell me everything. Rochdale is incredible and I love it already! We've had a great week and I'm excited to tell you about everything here, even though I still have a lot to learn.

Well, we do live just up the street from that Church that you were looking at on GoogleEarth, it's St. Chads - the Church of England. I've got some good pictures of it from our window that you'll have to see soon. The bells were going off last night and it sounded really amazing. Oh and we live with another companionship, Elders Hastings and Ward, both from Idaho. Elder Hastings is the District Leader and takes great care of us all! It's a lot of fun!

As for the work here, I love it. I feel like I'm serving in *Africa! Half of our investigators are African and they are just amazing people. We're even having a Baptism this weekend! Her name is Louma (pronounced Loma) Major. She is amazing and we are excited for her and her family. Then we are also teaching another African woman named Vicky who is dated for Baptism on June 13! She is so valiant, it's incredible. She won't let us leave her place without giving her something to read! And then we have Jamie McKeon who is also very valiant. It appears that his life has really turned around since he's been taught. He is dated for Baptism on the 20th of June and we are excited for him as well. We are also teaching a man named Bau who is from Fiji and is dated for Baptism on Independence Day! He is amazing as well, he told us that when he is Baptised he will probably be kicked out of his place by his friends that he is living with, but he just said that he was okay with that! It's all so amazing, that's only the tip of the iceberg. We had 8 investigators at Sacrament meeting this past Sunday and there are just so many more people I have to tell you about! We are so blessed here, it's a time of great harvest! I just hope and pray that I can remain worthy of it all!

Sorry to be so short but I've got to get going, we're almost out of time. The Church is true. There isn't any other true and living church in the world. We are the only restored Church in the world, every other Church is reformed, think about that. Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is evidence of that. I love the Gospel, it really is the only path to true happiness in this life and Eternal Life in the next!

I love you all so much. I'll write more next week, I promise. And it will be on Monday. Thanks so much for all that you do, it makes a massive difference in my life and in the lives of those I get to teach and serve here! Keep up the amazing work and keep the letters coming! I love you!

Love,

Elder Rowley


*prior to his call Luke really wanted to serve in Africa