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