Miracle after miracle

Date: Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 4:08 AM
Subject: Hiya!

Hiya Everyone!

It's been a great week and I hope to hear how yours went as well! Right now the sun is shining and we're all looking forward to playing some football this afternoon with the zone! Being a Missionary is so much fun. Speaking of which, driving is going well, hopefully I've got a practical test booked, I'll find out tomorrow. Please pray that it will be before the 4th of November! That's transfer day and I'm thinking I might not be here another transfer. We'll see.

We had zone conference on Thursday with Elder Kerr of the Seventy from Scotland. He's quite the character and I love him. We all learned a lot from him, he was following up on Elder Bednar's visit. We're learning from Apostles and Prophets and from the Savior how to teach people to learn for themselves, instead of just shoving information down their throats. It's amazing. The other night we were in a lesson with the Chiza's and we were working on asking better questions to help them to learn for themselves. At the end of the lesson Mary Chiza said that we asked really good questions! I felt that they just learned better all around. These skills are great and they are really working! The Church is true!

Yesterday was a great Sabbath, but Elder Brown and Elder Burnett were sick! Elder Neilson and I had to go on splits to cover both wards for Church and it was a lot of fun. We have a member named Paul Collis who comes teaching with us a lot and he was my companion for Church, it was great. I learned a lot at church and Florence and Carmen both came! It was a great Sunday even if it was a bit hectic!

Also, speaking of Carmen, she's scheduled to be Baptised on the 30th of October! We're seeing her again tonight and giving her a schedule of everything that will happen between now and her Baptism and it's very exciting to see her progress! Keep praying for everything will work out for her to be Baptised on that date! I know that miracles are on the way because my faith has been strengthened at the many many recent miracles we've seen. We were praying for someone we could Baptise this transfer and here we've got Carmen!

Another miracle we saw recently was one evening we had accidentally booked 2 appointments for the same time, and no fellowshipper! Paul Collis was going to come, but he had to babysit. Something inside me told me that everything would be alright though, and sure enough, when we stepped off a bus to walk to one of the appointments, Paul rang and said that he wasn't babysitting anymore! It was a miracle and a half, we were able to teach both lessons and have a great evening!

One of those lessons was with Simon, Stephanie, Florence, and Deborah, they are a part-member family (Florence isn't a member yet and Deborah is younger than 8) and they are amazing. We sang to them and we've been doing that for them for the past few lessons. Singing invites the spirit. That is true. I love it. And all of them came to Church yesterday because of it!

Another miracle we saw this week after zone conference happened when we were able to teach a new investigator named Phil. I love people named Phil, they're great. Anyway, we weren't sure if we should go out to this area where he lived because we didn't get back from Zone Conference until nearly 7:30 and didn't have much time to proselyte. The spirit told us to go though and we did and were able to teach him! Plus his fiancee, Roxanne is a less-active member! The crazy thing is that about 2 weeks ago we taught Roxanne's brother, Christian, and a couple days ago we taught him again! Coincidence? I don't think so. The Church is true and God lives and this is a day of miracles!

We also started teaching a man named Tim this week who is great. He learns a lot and identifies with the people in the Sciptures and wants to improve his life. The Gospel is going to bless him so much. We're teaching him again this evening and giving him a Baptismal Date to work towards! Pray for everything to go as the Lord wants!

As you can tell, we're just seeing miracle after miracle here in Rochdale! I love this work and I know it's true. Thank you for all of your Prayers in our behalf, it really does change things so much. I've really seen things pick up here in the last few weeks as our Prayers and efforts have improved. I know that Prayer plus the faith to work equals miracles. I've seen that here and I know that we can all see it in every aspect of our lives. Pray more often and more fervently and your life will improve. I testify of that. Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. Heavenly Father lives and loves each of us. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is real and is the greatest gift we have here in life. I've learned more and more to appreciate this gift as I should. And even now I know that I don't appreciate it enough. The Holy Ghost connects us to our Father in Heaven, without it we die spiritually. That's why we get it more and more the more we repent and put aside our sins, or spiritual death. The Gospel makes so much sense which to me is just another evidence that it is true. I know this not because of physical evidence, but rather because the Holy Ghost has told me that the Book of Mormon is true as I have had the faith to read, ponder, and pray about it. I testify that we can all do this again and again and it will improve all our lives every time. I attribute the goodness of my life to my relationship to my Savior Jesus Christ through the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith as well as Thomas S. Monson. The Church is true!

Well, I love you all very much. I can't thank you enough for the prayers and love and support and letters. Please keep them coming, I'm praying for you. I couldn't do this without you, and never forget that the people of England are blessed for what you have done for me. Have a great week and let me know what more I can do for you! I love you!

Love,

Elder Rowley