Just another day (sad)

Date: Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 3:50 AM
Subject: Oh Wow...

Hello!

How is everyone this week? It sounds like you're all staying very busy in the last few weeks of summer! I hope you keep having fun though.

Well, I apologize for no e-mail on Monday, I forgot to tell you that this week is transfer week. Elder Winward is gone. I'm training a new Missionary named Elder Burnett from Taylorsville! He is amazing already, and we get along great! He is worthy of miracles and we've already seen a lot. Yesterday we went to the chapel in Wythenshawe where I first met Elder Ayers about a year ago and where I also first met Elder Llaguno about 4 months ago. It felt strange to be there training again. And Elder Ayers gave us the training on training with his Spanish companion, Elder Garcia!

Anyway, we got back into Rochdale pretty fast yesterday and got to work. We went to try by a man and couldn't find his house for the life of us. We were walking back to go to another place when we stopped a man and it was the man we were looking for! We got his number and set up an appointment to see him on the Weekend! We also ran into many other people that we had planned to try-by or visit, the Lord placed us in their path! And we even got a chance to teach a kind woman named Lisa on her porch! Yesterday was amazing and I'm excited to see miracles today!

We've been really busy since I last e-mailed. Elder Winward's last week here was an amazing one. We had ten new investigators who are absolutely amazing. Now we have 5 people dated for Baptism! We have a Baptism every weekend in September! Here's their info:

Contissa is a young-woman that I street-contacted a couple weeks ago. She has a member friend so the teaching is pretty easy, her friend answers most of her questions when we're not there! Contissa is amazing, she just needs to come to church. She will hopefully be Baptized on the 5th of September! She needs your prayers.

Harry is in a part-member family, his sister and Mum are members and were Baptized nearly 2 years ago. Harry is great. We got to play football with him and some other young men on Friday, that was amazing by the way. Anyway, he is ready for the 12th of September, the Missionary that Baptized his Mum and sister is coming over here for holiday so he will Baptize him. He also needs your prayers.

Derek was a new investigator who I haven't seen since we first taught him, we've been on exchanges every time we've seen him since then! He needs a testimony of the Gospel. He has some struggles, so please pray for him to overcome that and gain a testimony.

Jason and Hannah were new investigators last week when I last e-mailed you. They are amazing. They love God and are very receptive to the Spirit and we're so excited for them. Hannah works on Sundays so we're praying for her to be able to get them off so they can come to church. We very much want them to have the blessings of the Gospel!

We're hoping to give Baptismal dates to many other investigators soon, there are just so many people to teach here! Miracles are happening all over the place. These people will be so blessed by all of our prayers.

My birthday was just another day. It didn't even really feel like a birthday, which I was okay with. It's strange how the older you get the less you like your birthday. The Wilson's did take us out to eat though, even if we couldn't do it on my birthday it was amazing. They are so kind!

Please pray for Kennedy, we haven't been able to see him in a little while and he didn't make it to church on Sunday. He's really busy with work, but we really really need to see him! He's a great young man and I hope to help him be ready to serve a Mission soon!

Everyone else is doing well. The district is great, they need some new investigators. The wards are great, one of the Bishops is in the hospital but should be out soon. The Mission is great, Elder Larson is now a Zone Leader and I'm very excited for him. Life is good.

Well, I thought I would be feeling very overwhelmed with all of these responsibilities, but I've decided to take it one thing at a time and remember that whom the Lord calls the Lord qualifies. He will qualify me, but I will still need many prayers. Especially that I will be able to develop even better relationships with the members here. I'm still working on becoming more confident, and your prayers are helping. Keep up the amazing work.

Anyway, the Church is true! Jesus Christ truely is our Savior. It wasn't nails that kept Him on the cross, it was love. And in the same way, it won't be the difficulty of life that keeps us going, it will be our love for those whom we serve. Love is a great key to this work, I've learned a lot about that recently. Elder Winward was good at that. Being a Missionary is the best. I love it and I know that it's a true work. We can all have Missionary experiences, we just need to ask for them and then act! I testify to you that Prayer works and changes things. Heavenly Father loves us and we are His children. He really does live and so does Jesus Christ. And because He lives we will too. Everything that is difficult about this life can be made right through Jesus Christ as we live His Gospel. We can be happier through Him as we choose to live His way. We can have comfort, peace, strength, optimism, hope, courage, confidence, and every single good thing in this world through Him. Our lives are better because of our Savior. I love Him and I love serving Him.

Well, I hope you all have a great week. I love you all so much. I couldn't do what I do without you. Keep up the amazing work. Keep looking for God's blessings in your lives, they're more present than we think. I love you!

Love,

Elder Rowley