Happy 2010!

Date: Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 7:51 AM
Subject: Happy 2010!!

Hello Everyone!

This year has flown by really fast. It's been a good one though. Next year will probably do the same. I suppose Dad was always right when he said that there's no rest for the wicked!

There isn't much to report today because I spoke with everyone on the phone on Friday. There is a bit thought. This morning we had district meeting and it was amazing. We all taught each other about Moroni's Promise in the Book of Mormon and helping investigators to follow that promise. The spirit was very strong and I learned a lot from these amazing Elders in my district. I love them and they are great. Now we'll be going on exchanges with Elders Lloyd and Parry in Crosby, the city just north of Liverpool. I'm excited.

Oh and yesterday we had a great zone activity playing football and basketball. Elder Burnett was there and it was good to see him, he's really good at football. We have a great zone this transfer, I love the Missionaries I get to work with.

Sunday was good but no investigators came to Sacrament meeting! Please pray for this to happen this week. Toma and his family are doing well but they need prayers for miracles to happen. And that they'll be able to come to Church this week. They're getting so close to Baptism, it'll hopefully be in January! Linda and Stephen can also use your prayers that they'll be able to come to Church on Sunday as well. They are also doing well but it's hard for us to see Stephen, he's out of town often. We're also hoping to find some solid new investigators soon, so your prayers for that are much needed!

Zone Conference was on Wednesday and it was amazing. We had some talks in the morning, then went to the Temple and did a session and afterwards had a testimony meeting back in the chapel. It was a really spiritual day and I loved it. We are so blessed in this mission to have a Temple and such an amazing Mission President and such amazing Missionaries as well. There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now than right here in the England Manchester Mission!

Our Christmas was good. Christmas Eve we were at the Brooksbanks house (Brother Brooksbank is the Ward Mission Leader) and we had pizza and watched Finding Nemo (we had some disney movies approved by President Bullock). It was amazing, during the whole movie Elder Stringham and I were thinking of how it was like the Gospel. I love being a Missionary because nobody can get annoyed at me when I do that in movies!!

Christmas day in the morning we just spent some time with Elders Newson and Stacey (our Zone Leaders) in their flat. We made pancakes and bacon and by the time we got to our lunch appointment in the afternoon we were already stuffed. We were at this Nigerian/English family called the Edosomeones, and they made the most amazing food, I loved it. African people are the best. We also opened some poppers after we ate, they are English things that you pull and they snap open, kind of like at New Years, but inside of them there are jokes and toys and trivia questions, it's great. I love them.

In the evening we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" with the Parry family and it was great. The ward members here have been so kind to us this season! That was the last thing we did on Christmas and it was one of the best. I learned as we watched that that when we put others needs above our own, like George Baily does and like the Savior also does, we are so much happier and so are those around us. Even though the happiness doesn't always come right at first, it always comes. It's true, I've experienced it. Like speaking with people on buses about the Gospel, it's way hard at first, but afterwards you feel great! I love the Gospel and I know that it's true. The Savior Jesus Christ is alive and He loves you. He can change your life if you will let Him in by exercising faith in Him and repenting of your sins. I testify that His path is the true path to success and happiness in this life and in the next. The Book of Mormon really does contain the fulness of His Gospel, and it is a springboard to testimony and personal revelation. We can come to know Him by reading, pondering and praying about the Book of Mormon. It will help us increase our faith in Him. It truely is the iron rod that will lead us back into His presence. Study the Book of Mormon every single day. As we use it as much as possible miracles will come into our lives. I know this is true because I've experienced it.

I love you all. Thank you again and again for all that you have done and still do for me. This work is not possible without those things. Have a very happy New Year and write soon!

Love,

Elder Rowley

Happy Christmas!

Amazing African food for Christmas!

Date: Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 4:53 AM
Subject: Happy Christmas!!

Happy Christmas Everyone!!

It really is the best time of the year. I feel amazing right now. The blessings just keep flowing and flowing in!!

Before I forget, I want to tell you that I've done well at sharing the Gosple with people on buses. I've spoken with as many people as possible on every bus I've been on since I last wrote. It's amazing and we're being very blessed for it. People are sometimes angry and rude, but it doesn't matter because the Savior experienced the same thing. If He can do it so can we!! I still need your prayers though.

We have had such an amazing week. Wow. We've had so many miracles in the last 4 days I can't even count. We owe it all to the Lord. As we've been diligent, His powers from heaven have come down to aid us in His work. I've learned that this is something that every Missionary needs. And all of us are Missionaries so we all need it.

One miracle happened when we tried by a man that was taught previously by the Zone Leaders here. His name is Babs and Elder Larson and I street contacted him a long time ago when we missed our ferry back to the Isle of Man one night. Well, we tried by him and set up a return appointment with him! That was great, but what happened after that was even more amazing. We were speaking with people in the streets and we spoke with a man named James. After sharing a bit of the Gospel with him we asked if we could come to his home and teach him right then and there. Sure enough, he said yes and we were blessed with a new investigator! Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, and I know that these blessings have come because we've made the efforts to bus contact and walk fast and speak with everyone we possibly can!

Another miracle happened with Toma's family. Last night we taught Linda in the Ward Mission Leader, Brother Brooksbank's home. The spirit was strong and it went well as we watched the Joy to the World DVD. That was good. Then we took Brother Brooksbank to teach Toma and his family. We taught about Moroni 10:3-5 and the spirit was very strong and we felt to commit them to another Baptismal date. We were a bit hesitant as they have struggled with Baptismal dates in the past, but we were committed by the area president to challenge all of our progressing investigators to a Baptismal Date. As we had the faith to do this, we learned that Toma had already set a date to be Baptised by! They were wanting to make it a surprise for us, but the spirit told us anyway because we need to know. So they are scheduled for Baptism again! And they came to Church on Sunday and are just doing great. Miracles just keep pouring in!

Also the other night we felt to stop by Linda for a quick visit and we were able to teach her niece! It was amazing. And for another lesson with Linda we planned to teach her how to donate tithing and we couldn't find a tithing slip anywhere, until I was flipping through Preach My Gospel to see what else we could teach her and a tithing slip suddenly appeared! It was such a miracle.

So it's been a week of miracles. We owe it all to the Lord. I testify to you that the Atonement works. It really does. We just simply do all that we can and trust in the Lord to make up the difference and He does. I've been doing this recently and it's brought my life to a whole different level. And the amazing thing is that there is hope for even further improvement and progression! The Book of Mormon is true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored by God through His living prophet, as well as the knowledge of the Plan of Happiness. I love this plan, I know that it's true. I know that as we repent of our sins, relying on the Savior for our help, we will be able to one day have eternal life. I encourage all of us to do this every day of our lives. I promise that God will listen and help us with whatever trials we may be experiencing.

Well, I'll speak with you on Friday so I'll tell you more then. I love you so much. Again, I can't thank you enough for all you do for me, packages, love, support, prayers and everything. Have an amazing week and a very happy Christmas!

Love,

Elder Rowley
The Liverpool Elders! Stacey & Newsom, Rowley & Stringham

New digs!

Date: Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 4:29 AM
Subject:

Hello Everyone!

Sorry I didn't let you know that it was transfer week. Transfers is always on a Wednesday so whether or not I'm being transfered you'll hear from me on a Wednesday or Thursday every six weeks. Speaking of, Elder Cowley is now gone. He took the long and lonely journey to... the Isle of Man! I call it return of the Cowley because his ancestors were Baptised by John Taylor there. I'm so happy and excited for him. It was really like re-playing what I experienced this same time last year. He will do amazing things out there and we'll miss him here in Liverpool!

My new companion is Elder Stringham from South Jordan. He is amazing. He's so excited about the Gospel and he is a very sacred Missionary. He came on his mission about 6 months ago and he is on fire. Yesterday we were blessed to have 18 quality gospel conversations and set up 6 return appointments with people. We also taught a new investigator! I followed a prompting to try by our investigator Linda and her neice, Karen was there. We taught about prayer and she committed to pray and Linda was teaching as well and it was just amazing. Miracles are happening and will continue to happen here in Liverpool!

Oh and we've been blessed with a new flat! We no longer live with the Zone Leaders. I'll get you our new address on Monday. The place is posh though, everything is so new and we even have a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. That's weird to use the word garbage. Anyway, those appliances are really rare to have in flats over here. We're so blessed!

When Elder Cowley left I was working with our Zone Leaders, Elders Newson and Stacey for the evening. It was weird though because I went on splits with a member to teach Toma and his family. It made me really nervous at first, but the member, Brother Smith, helped me out a lot. He speaks Romanian, he went there on his mission. That's no coincidence by the way. Anyway, Toma is doing well. The family came to stake conference on Sunday and enjoyed it very much. They feel the spirit in Church but they don't understand. I don't know if they would understand everything anyway! They're doing well though and we're planning some good things for them for Christmas. Just pray that we will be able to get everything worked out for that.

Last Wednesday we had interviews and training and it was amazing. I got a couple packages there by the way, thanks so much for that! Anyway, the training taught us how to have more confidence when speaking with people and it was incredible. I learned a lot and on the bus ride home Elder Cowley and I (it was before transfers) spoke with everyone we possibly could on the bus! I've been able to do that pretty consistently now which is a great blessing because that's really difficult for me. I need your prayers so that I can remain consistent at sharing the Gospel on buses and reach the Lord's full potential for me. Miracles come to Missionaries who share the Gospel on the bus.

Oh and do you remember Carmen Whelan from Rochdale? Well, she was Baptised a couple weeks ago. Don't forget that she was found on Facebook when she met a member of the Church attending BYU and he shared the Gosple with her so she referred herself to us. Facebook is inspired and it can do a lot of good if we use it right. I encourage everyone to share the Gospel on Facebook and everywhere you get the chance! Blessings will continue to come!

I had what was probably one of the best experiences of my mission on Sunday. Of course you all remember Phil and Christine Taylor from the Isle of Man, Elder Larson and I found them and they were Baptised in August. Well, Sunday was the Liverpool stake conference, and last week I was excited all week that I might get to see them there because the Isle of Man is in the Liverpool Stake. Anyway, so they came on Sunday and it was amazing to get to speak with them, it sounds like they are doing wonderful things there on the Isle of Man. Phil is teaching in the Priesthood and Christine is fitting in with the Relief Society very well. I was also excited because I knew that Phil was going to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood after the conference and I would get to be there for that. Well, the time came for that to happen and the Stake President motioned for me to come up to participate in the ordination and then whispered that Phil had asked me to perform it! So I got to ordain Phil Taylor to the office of an Elder. It was so incredible. I felt such an amazing love for Phil and Christine as well. I have a great feeling that I'm going to be friends with them for a long long time. How often does a Missionary get the opportunity to ordain one of their golden investigators to the Melchizedek Priesthood? I feel so blessed. Thank you for all you've done for me to help me to be able to come here and do what I've done and be worthy of this incredible blessing!

The Church is true. Humility is something that we need a lot of. We cannot do things very well on our own, everything just goes so much better when we involve the Lord. That's why we have Preach My Gospel, it increases the Lord's involvement in Missionary work. I love that. I love the principle of Humility and it's blessed my life so much. I also love diligence. As I've studied it so far this week I've been able to experience the great joy and satisfaction that comes from doing all that I possibly can. The Lord really blesses the diligent and faithful. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is the iron rod that will lead us to Jesus Christ so he can take us back to our Father in Heaven's presence forever. The Gospel works. It's true. Prayer changes things, try it! President Monson is a true Prophet of God. I know that God lives and loves each one of us.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful week and keep up the amazing work. Don't be scared to write! I need to repent of not writing. I'm sorry. I'll do better. Anyway, I love you!


Love,

Elder Rowley

Teaching and tea (not real tea)

Date: Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 4:28 AM
Subject: Happy Christmas!

Hello Everyone!

The weeks are just flying by.... already it's been about a year since I was "banished" to the Isle of Man! And in just over 8 short months you'll see me again. But I'm not going to allow anyone to talk about that anymore! So stop it!

Before I forget, our thanksgiving feast last week was amazing, we were all so stuffed afterwards, and we even had a tea appointment after that! I was so sick of food that day. I'll send you some pictures.

We've had a great week with lots of miracles. Yesterday was amazing. Church was great, I think I'm finally starting to understand the Sacrament and the Atonement. But more importantly we were blessed to have 4 souls come to Sacrament meeting! Stephen Clarke came for Priesthood then had to leave, but Linda Dunn; Zuzeyo; and some newer investigators, Alice and Nigel, came as well! And the amazing part is that Alice and Nigel already know one of the ward members who was recently Baptised! It's exciting. They all really enjoyed Church and we have an exciting week ahead of us with lots of teaching and Tea appointments already set up!

After Church yesterday we were able to go with Alice and Nigel to Sam and Beryl Perrie's home (amazing members in the ward) for Tea and afterwards we watched "Joy to the World". It was great. Alice has a lot of amazing questions and the best part of the whole thing is that the conversation was about the Gospel most of the time! We're excited for them to progress.

Also yesterday we were blessed to be let into a home to teach a wonderful Czeckoslovakian family of 6! The language barrier was terrible, but they got one of the young girls to translate for us and we were able to get across what we needed to! I'm excited for them and to see them progress. The family's surname is Demeterova if you would like to pray for them.

On Saturday we had a really interesting day. We met Yoshi from Japan; Cain, a practicing athiest; and Nacho, from Spain. It was a great day though. We did a lot of finding (speaking with people in the streets) and then taught in the evening. We are so blessed to be teaching a man named Stephen Clarke, the one who came to Priesthood on Sunday. He looks similar to Dad and Grandpa Rowley to me, but my eyes are used to looking at British people. Anyway, in this lesson on Saturday Stephen said some amazing things. He's really funny. He will shake our hands in the middle of the lesson after complimenting us and he says how wonderful it would be to be in heaven with us. He even kisses the Book of Mormon! I love Stephen very much, he will be Baptised soon.

Everyone else is doing well, Toma needs our prayers right now, things are tough for him. He will get there and be Baptised, but it might take a bit of time now. That's all that matters in the end, is that he can return to God's presence. The way might be tough, but he will get there. This week we're working on bringing more members to our lessons, as you pray for this to happen I know that our investigators, and members as well, will all be blessed.

The Gospel is true. I have felt the power of the Atonement in my life as I have repented of my sins. I think that sometimes we don't rely on Christ enough, we forget the importance of His part of us getting back to Heavenly Father. I testify to you that there is no other way to get to heaven but through Jesus Christ. We need to remember Him every single day of our lives as we strive to repent. Stive means we will struggle sometimes. That doesn't matter to Him because He loves us so much He just wants all we can give plus our trust that He will make up the difference. The more we repent of our sins the happier we'll be. And the more we'll fulfull our purpose in life. God loves us so much. I testify that true and lasting happiness is only found in His presence. We can get there by repenting. So let us repent of all our sins.

Well, I love you all so much. My time is short and my heart is full. Have a great week and know that you're in my prayers. Keep up the amazing work. I couldn't do this without you. I love you!

Love,

Elder Rowley