Transferred!

Zone Leaders council at the Mission Home

Date: Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 5:24 AM
Subject: Transferred...!

Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing this week? I hope well. I am doing great. I've been transferred to Preston, and I'm now serving with Elder Griffith from California. He is amazing and we are going to make some wonderful things happen this transfer! Before I forget, here is the flat address so you can all write to me:

49 Centenary Mill
Preston
PR1 5JQ

So now you can all write to me. I think I'll be here a bit longer than I was in Liverpool, so that will be nice. I love it here already and I'm excited to tell you all about it! But first I'll tell you about my last week in Liverpool.

To be honest, I was sad to leave Liverpool. Probably more sad than any of my other transfers. That area is just so amazing and the people and the Missionaries and everything. I'm going to miss it, but I've got a lot of work ahead of me here!

Since I wrote last we had a great week. We had a district meeting on Tuesday and one of the Elders tied Jonny Lingo into committing investigators to come to Church, it was great! I love those Missionaries. Afterwards we got to eat together at a nice restaurant called a carvery. It's just a traditional English Roast dinner, you've probably seen one in my pictures. I'll explain more about it if you have any questions. Anyway, after that we went on exchanges with the Elders just north of Liverpool in a town called Crosby. I worked with Elder Lloyd and he taught me a lot. He was called as a new District Leader and he replaced me there. That district is in good hands!

We were also blessed with some wonderful tea appointments with members last week, we had some great food and great people to work with. I love the members in Liverpool and I will miss them a lot.

On Friday there was a Baptism of an American girl named Mary. She was taught by our Zone Leaders, but again they needed me to play the piano for the service so we got to go. It was a wonderful service, very organized and spiritual. And Mary is going to make a wonderful member. I taught her once and she accepted everything so quickly. She's great.

Sunday we got to work with the Zone Leaders and I got to work with Elder Stacey. He taught me a lot of really good things and I'm thankful for that. Exchanges are the best. Although sadly, none of our investigators came to Church on Sunday. But since transfers there are now sisters teaching Toma and his family, so they will probably become more committed to Church. I'm thankful for that.

Since then it's been crazy seeing people and getting everything ready for transfers. It was a great last week in Liverpool and I will miss it. As for Preston, we live with another set of Elders and they are great. I'll tell you more in the future because my time is short. Also, we are teaching some amazing people as well. Oscar is Chinese and he is being Baptised on Saturday. He is very smart. And Eric is from Ghana and he will be Baptised in a couple weeks. We are very blessed here! Again, I'll tell you more on Monday.

Well, the Church is true. I've learned a lot in the past few weeks and I've changed a lot. I've really been humbled by the opportunities the Lord has given me to serve, and I need your prayers to progress to be what He needs me to be. In the Gospel we sometimes become prideful and boast of our callings or the things we've done. Sometimes we don't do things the Lord's way when we know we should. Sometimes we study the Gospel for our needs and not others. Sometimes we ask ourselves why we aren't happy at Church instead of why others aren't happy. I've learned in the past week that when we do this the Lord humbles us. As we overcome selfishness and pride through the Atonement, we will find out who we really are, and we will reach our full potential. There's a scripture in the New Testament about losing our lives for the service of others. That is true. When we truely serve, we reach great heights. When we are selfish and prideful, we wither and are miserable. I know that this is true because I've experienced both sides of this. The only true and lasting way to change from this is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I testify that it works and it changes things. God lives and loves all of us, if He didn't we wouldn't even be here. The Book of Mormon is true. It's the keystone of my testimony and the iron rod that leads us along the path back to God's presence. The Gospel is true.

Well, I love you all very much. Have a great week and keep up the amazing work. I couldn't do this without you!

Love,

Elder Rowley

Many, many blessings

Dinner with the Crosby Elders

Date: Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 4:15 AM
Subject: Many Many Blessings...

Hello!

I hope everyone's had a good week. Don't get sick. I've been blessed to stay well all winter season long! All it takes is vitamin C, lots of water, and lots of washing your hands. Life is good when you stay well.

We've had an amazing week with lots of miracles! But first I'm happy to tell you that the snow and ice are all gone! No more slipping and sliding and angry people. It was so nice, everyone at Church on Sunday seemed much happier to see it gone. It's still crazy to me just how much it shut everything down for that last week. They weren't prepared for it at all. We all just have to learn and live.

Also, on Monday we went to a Church of England Cathedral called "The Great Space". And it is actually near a river if you were wondering. Anyway, this building is massive, and it's got the largest set of bells in the world- 31 tons! We even got to travel up to the top of it and see all of Liverpool, it was great. And it even snowed while we were up there. I also learned a lot from being there. It was a good experience.

On Thursday we had interviews and training and it was also amazing. We learned how to commit investigators to a Baptismal date in the first lesson and that's our mission standard now. We're getting a lot more solid investigators from it as well. I learned a lot from it and the next morning we went and taught a new investigator named Chris and used what we'd learned. And it worked! I'm not surprised I just feel very blessed. And Chris is amazing by the way, he came to Church on Sunday and really got on well with the members!

Saturday we were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, I got to go with Elder Newson from Vegas, he's pretty amazing. I learned a lot from him and we were able to really adjust to meet the needs of the members and investigators that we taught. We were able to really bless their lives and it was great. I love learning from other Missionaries, and I get to do it so often!

Yesterday at Church we had some amazing miracles. For one thing, Elder Kerr of the Seventy was there and he taught us and the ward a lot. It was exciting, he's from Scotland and he's very lively. Then Chris came and I told you about that. But also our Solvakian Family, the Demeterova's, came as well! It was such a miracle. We had tried by them in the morning on our way to Church and they said that they would come and they are just such honest people. It was amazing to walk out of Elder's Quorum and see them all standing there, excited and a bit nervous to be there. They didn't understand much, but they did feel something in their hearts and we all know what that is. It was such a miracle and blessing. Now it's just a matter of helping them to be Baptised!

Another great miracle this week was with Toma and his family. They are becoming more committed. We saw them 3 days in a row over the weekend and we learned a lot about what's really happening and how we can really help. Toma is now preparing to be Baptised on the 29th of January and he'll have to give up coffee today to do that, so please pray for him. So many blessings are on the way for this wonderful family, they just need to keep acting in faith to see these miracles. They really need your prayers.

Our other investigators are doing well this week but we've had to stop teaching a couple as they weren't really progressing. With some we're just teaching them a lot less until they start to progress faster. But this week were also blessed with amazing new investigators. One was Chris, and another was Donald. I think I told you about him last week. We taught the restoration and the spirit was very strong. We even had a member with us who could relate to him and taught well with us. Donald felt the spirit and accepted to be Baptised in a few weeks. He's very excited to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and it was all just so miraculous. I love miracles. This truly is a day and age of miracles.

I suppose it's time for a spiritual thought and then I need to wrap this up. This week I've been learning about what it was like for the Savior to be ridiculed and made fun of like he was. I've been studying in the book "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage and learned a lot about this just this morning. There were some people such as the scribes and pharisees who attempted to verbally tear the Savior to pieces by calling him out on things that He had supposedly done wrong that were in conflict with the law. But the amazing attribute of the Savior that I always seem to notice in these instances is the fact that He just bounces right back and rebukes them for their hypocrisy. He didn't let it get Him down or sway Him from what He knew was right, He just kept going just as firm as before, if not more so. And really I've found two applications we can make of this in our lives. For one thing, we cannot ever be the source of making fun others of or putting others down. The Savior never did that or taught that. He did, at times, rebuke even those He loved very harshly, but He always showed an increase of love afterwards. That was righteous, but it becomes unrighteous when we are doing it to put ourselves above another person, in a "better place than them". So really for anyone who has ever been made fun of by someone else, they weren't at fault, the one pointing the finger and laughing was. And here's the other application that I found from this. We must also be like the Savior in the regard that when such vebal abuse comes we cannot let it get us down or sway us from any righteous actions. If it leads us on to do something better than we were doing before then that's okay, we need to listen and apply it because it comes from Christ, as we know that whatsoever persuades us to come unto Christ comes from Him. So lets not ever unrighteously put others down and not get down ourselves when our Priesthood leaders may harshly rebuke us for actions that aren't in harmony with the Savior's teachings. I know that these things are true. The Gospel is true. It's been restored. That restoration is absolutely necessary and real. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and it has increased my faith in Jesus Christ as I have read and applied the words in it. We must all do this and thus hold on to the iron rod. Jesus is the Christ and He can make everything unfair about life right. We need His Atonement every day of our lives. We must repent, for if we do we will be happy!

I love you all. I hope you have a wonderful week and remember the Savior. Without Him you couldn't even be reading these words now. Don't forget the eternal impact that you've had on my life. Keep up the amazing work and don't be afraid to write.

Love,

Elder Rowley

A week of miracles

I didn't know it could snow like this in Liverpool...

Date: Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 4:25 AM
Subject: A Week of Miracles!

Hello!!

I hope you're all having a great week and doing well with returning to school. The schools here have all been shut down for a week.

On Monday night it began snowing, and on Tuesday we woke up with about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. We had district meeting and it was snowing all throughout that and even into the late afternoon. We had a lot of snow, and it shut down the city for a couple days! They are not prepared for snow here. The buses shut down and the roads were icy for days (some are still icy) and people became a bit more hostile as they weren't sure how to walk or do anything really. Salt was sold out in all the stores, and they weren't prepared with enough rock salt/grit to cover the needed areas of the city. It was a crazy few days but now it's starting to melt so that's nice. It did look really pretty though.

On Wednesday we had a member come out with us named Brother Crompton. He is great. We taught two of our investigators who are struggling with living the Word of Wisdom and he was able to relate to them as he overcame their same problem years ago. It really helped them to see that they can overcome their problems, it was amazing. The other miracle about it was that the first appointment fell through, he wasn't in. So we went to our second one and taught the investigator and afterwards we were thinking of going by some other people but Brother Crompton felt impressed to go back to the first appointment and see if he was in. Well, the spirit is always right so we were blessed to find that investigator in and taught him and it was a miracle. The only disappointment I had was that a few weeks ago I had a thought that we needed to work with Brother Crompton, and sadly I just shrugged it off. I learned that sometimes we have impressions from the spirit that we don't even recognize as impressions. We need to always be sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Ghost because it's always there, we just need to listen for it!

Also on Wednesday I was blessed to be able to interview another investigator for Baptism. Her name is Yolanda and she's great, the Gospel has really helped her change her life and she has a great testimony. We had a nice african meal with them after the interview and it was amazing. On Friday she was Baptised even though there were fears about the snow making it difficult for people to get there. We worked hard shoveling snow on Thursday to make the chapel accessable for everyone to come there. And it was a great service, one of the Missionaries in my district, Elder Rawlings, got to Baptise her. He was scared that he wouldn't be able to pull her up out of the water but we all prayed for him and he said afterwards that it was easy. The Lord answers prayers! I also got to give a talk and conduct the music for the service. My music skills just keep being used, I love it!

And then there was yesterday. What an amazing day. We were on exchanges with our Assistants to the President, Elder Wilson and Elder Ridley. I went with Elder Ridley and we were blessed with miracles. And these are some of my very most sacred experiences of my mission and life so don't take this lightly. For one thing, when I knew they were coming I knew that we were going to see miracles and get let into homes and find amazing people. I expected miracles. We need to do this and I testify that it works. Here's why. I told Elder Ridley that I was expecting us to get let into a home to teach (like someone on the street letting us walk with them to their home and teach them, or someone that we knock on their door letting us in to teach them). I expected that to happen twice. And it did. After Church we urgently went out to speak with people. We crossed the street from the Church and spoke with a man shoveling snow who wasn't interested. Then the second man we spoke with was a man named Kerry who at first was somewhat hostile towards us and the message. I was amazed as we followed the guidance of the spirit and were loving and personable and invited him to allow us into his home to teach him about the restoration and he accepted. I was beaming the whole time as we were walking into his home. It didn't take us 5 minutes to do that after Church. We were blessed to be able to teach him about Joseph Smith and the restoration and invite him to live the Gospel and promised him blessings for it and the spirit was very strong the whole time. We're seeing Kerry again Tomorrow so you can pray for him to feel the spirit as we keep teaching him. And the other miracle was that as we met Elders Wilson and Stringham to get a lift back to our flat for Tea we found that they were teaching a new investigator as well. They got let into a home also. I was very happy and excited but not surprised at all, because I had expected these miracles. You can do the same. I'm going to keep doing it.

It doesn't stop there though. A couple transfers ago we had a zone conference in which we were taught that we can seek a vision from the Lord of who we are going to find that day. Basically we seek inspiration on the descriptions of the elect that we will find and then we speak with everyone we can expecting that the Lord will lead us to these souls. So in that meeting I envisioned an African man in his 20's or so. I'm horrible at describing the way people look so I wasn't able to say what he looked like but I knew. The sad thing was, I never found that man. Until yesterday. Elder Ridley and I expected that we would find him. As we were walking in between two lessons there was the very man who was in my head. Elder Ridley spotted him across the street and said: "there he is! That's him!" I excitedly spoke with him and I knew that he would accept our message and he did. And he was very excited. We're scheduled to see him tonight, but we might have to move it. His name is Donald though, you can pray for him. I love seeing miracles! I know that we are in a day and age of miracles. The Lord wants us to expect them. And as we do all we can while expecting them, they will come. I testify of this. And I testify that it's only possible through Jesus Christ. Think about Joseph Smith. All the people he healed in the name of the Savior. He expected that they would be healed, just as the Savior set that example for us. I testify that this power can only come through our Savior Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement. He is real. He lives. We can change through His Atonement and we must do so or we will not return to God's presence. This is repentance, the very purpose of our lives. It works and it brings the greatest happiness in the world. And I can testify to you of these things because I have acted on the faith in Jesus Christ that I gained as I read, pondered, and prayed about the Book of Mormon. I testify that that book is true and we must hold on to it, the very iron rod. to return to God's presence. It is not the path, but it is the only sure thing that follows the path exactly. I know this because God has told me that it's true by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Gospel is true.

Well, I love you all very much. Missionary work is the best, so do it. Have a great week, keep warm and keep doing well in school and whatever you may be up to. And let me know about it. And expect miracles. I expect to hear in letters and e-mails of the miracles you've experienced in your lives. Thank you again for all that you do for me, I can't say enough of that. I love you!

Love,

Elder Rowley

Happy New Year!

Pizza and games at the chapel on New Years Eve!

Date: Mon, Jan 4, 2010 at 4:14 AM
Subject: New Years

Hello Everyone!

Happy New Year! That went really fast. And this year will probably be even faster!

Our New Years celebrations were great. On New Years Eve we went to the chapel with the whole district (8 Missionaries including us) and played sports for like 4 hours, it was amazing. We also ordered pizza and one Elder cooked some nice pudding and pie for us all. It was so much fun. We played a game called chair football, I'll have to teach you how to play it someday. We also played basketball and a little bit of hockey. By the end of it we were all exhausted!

Then on New Years day we went to Wigan and played more sports at the chapel there with the district there. It was amazing again. But we were all very sore from the previous night! We played for a few hours then went to visit an Elder who had his appendix burst and then get taken out. It felt weird to be in a hospital again, but it was good to see him and he seemed happy to see us all. There were like ten of us crowded around his bed! After that we went to a buffet called Taybarns and it was amazing. We each had like 3 plates of delicious food, it was amazing. The whole day was a really unforgettable New Years celebration!

Now on to the important stuff. Church yesterday was great, thank you for praying for our investigators to make it. Linda, Stephen, and Zuzeyo plus his girlfriend all came to Church! It was amazing because we taught the Gosple principles class as well, that was a lot of fun. It was a massive class, but we divided them into four groups and had them each answer a question that had to do with the lesson then share their answers with the rest of the class. It was wonderful and it went really fast. I love teaching. All of our investigators loved Church and we're hoping and praying that they'll all make it again next week. Your prayers are much needed with this, every time I've asked you to pray for something it's happened in one way or another, it's amazing! You all have such great faith and it's really blessing the people here. Especially pray for Toma and his family because they didn't make it there yesterday and we're really hoping that they can be Baptised this month!

On Tuesday we had district meeting and it was great. It was all about Moroni's Promise and it was a very spiritual meeting, I loved it. I love that promise and I just want to testify to you that it works and it will change our lives as we continually apply it. So keep doing it even if you've done it many times because that spiritual witness is needed very much in these last days. Anyway, also on Tuesday I got to do another Baptismal interview for an amazing man named Peter.

Now here's one of the most amazing miracles for this week. Last night we were with our Slovakian investigator family, teaching them about Moroni's Promise. It was a great lesson, even if we do have to teach through their young daughter. They're all amazing though. In the last lesson with them we tried to commit them to be Baptised but they didn't understand and wouldn't really commit. But this time as we committed them for a Baptismal date they accepted and are now scheduled for Baptism! I'm so excited for them. The amazing thing though is that between that last lesson and last night they read in the Book of Mormon and felt the Holy Ghost tell them that it's true. And they also told us a story of a friend of theirs who was taught by Missionaries and was healed of an illness and was Baptised into the Church! So they've already seen the blessings that the Gospel brings, I'm sure that they'll be Baptised. I'm so excited for them. It's a big family too, last night there were 10 people in the room!

Well, again I testify to you that the Church is true. There's no way that it couldn't be, the evidence is massive, but the best evidence is that powerful spiritual witness that comes when we read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I testify that this is critical for an enduring conversion. If we don't know the Savior as well as we should, and we are all imperfect so we all fall into this category, we simply need to read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon. One amazing thing I learned about it this week was that as we read in in the Holy Ghost will testify to us that it is true. So we already know it's true from that. But to confirm it's truth we must pray about it. Notice the scripture tells us to ask if it's not true. That's just saying that we need to confirm the truthfulness of it that was already shown to us by the Holy Ghost as we read it. So lasting conversion comes from the Book of Mormon. That's how I am converted. That's why I live the Gospel. That's why I'm giving two years of my life to do this. Because I know from God that the Book of Mormon is true and because of that I know that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God and that the Church is true and most importantly that Jesus is the Christ and that He can save us from our sins. We truly can return to God's presence through Jesus Christ. Everything bad or hard about life can and will be overcome through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The book of Mormon is the keystone of my testimony of the Gospel and I exhort everyone to read, ponder and pray about it. As we do this our lives will be changed for the better. I am a living witness of this.

Thank you again for all you do for me. I say it every week I know, but it's that important that you know how thankful I am for you. I really couldn't do this without you, every time I do something good, anything good, I just think about someone of you that helped me to learn to do that thing. And the people here are eternally blessed because of that. Don't forget that. Keep up the amazing work. Share the Gospel whenever you can and it will make your life happier. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Rowley