Going places

Date: Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 4:18 AM
Subject: Hello!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you've all had a great weekend. There's not too much to write today since you heard from me last Thursday. Time has really flown by since then, we've been really busy! And we've been experiencing amazing miracles as well.

We're teaching some great people right now, one of which was Baptised this past weekend! His name is Oscar, he is Chinese and he is very smart. He will make a great member and we're excited to have him in the ward. His Baptismal service was wonderful by the way. The Missionary that was here before me got to Baptise him and the spirit was strong. Afterwards we had a nice surprise when a Chinese investigator of the other Preston Elders (there are two companionships in Preston, we live with them) played Pachelbel's Canon in D on the piano. It was pretty amazing. And I got to play the piano for the service again by the way!

We're also teaching a man named Eric from Ghana who is experiencing a lot of trials right now. The Gospel will help him a lot and we're excited to see him be Baptised in a couple weeks. He's preparing to be Baptised on the 13th of February. I love him already. He could use some prayers right now.

We were also blessed yesterday to teach two new investigators, they let us into their homes as we knocked on them! We were blessed with this because we were obedient and we spoke with everyone we possibly could, the Spirit guided us to these two prepared people. One was named Sunny, he is a Christian from India and he was great but it was hard for me to understand him. Indian people are great, I love them. We'll hopefully be seeing him soon. It will be difficult to see people in the next couple days though as we'll be in the Lake District!

Anyway, the other one was named Gemma. She is great as well. She has a son who is 7 named Louis and he listened well as we taught them the restoration yesterday. They felt the spirit and will hopefully be preparing to be Baptised in the next few weeks! Gemma was taught a few years ago so she remembers a few things about the Church and that was a great starting point to us teaching her. You'll hear more about her in the future, we're seeing her tonight.

Church yesterday was great but sadly, none of our investigators came. Please pray for our investigators to come to Church. They need it so much. Anyway, Church was at 9:00 and Sacrament meeting was first, I wasn't used to either of those things. Church over here usually starts at 10 or 10:30, but there are two wards here so it has to be earlier. Oh, and this ward is the oldest unit of the Church that is still running! There's a plaque in the chapel that I've got a picture of. Anyway, the ward is amazing! We have some great members that I'm getting to know well. I just know I'm going to love serving here. I'm also going to get to use my piano playing skills, the ward piano player is gone every fast Sunday. I think I'm finally starting to get used to playing for Church meetings!

Last week on Friday we had a meeting all day at the Mission Home with President Bullock and other leaders in the mission to council and discuss the needs of the mission. It was great and I learned a lot. This mission is going places. We're starting to double the amount of Baptisms we've had previously and it's a great miracle. We're working to keep this happening. Aside from that Sister Bullock cooked for us and that was also amazing.

This past week has gone so fast and I've learned so much. Something I've learned from Elder Griffith is the importance of exactness in obedience. It really is hard, and sometimes not everyone in a group or team wants to do it, but when it happens the miracles flow. Just like the Army of Helaman in the Book of Mormon. Those two new investigators we taught on Sunday wouldn't have come had we not been exactly obedient. It really is like D+C 82:10 says, when we obey the Lord is bound to bless us. We don't leave any room for Him to not bless us! And He loves to do that. Obedience is important. The Gospel is true and it really has been restored. Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God. I know this because I know that the Book of Mormon is true. My testimony is strengthened every day as I read in that sacred record. Prayer works and changes things. The Atonement changes things, and it continues to do so in my life every day. This is only possible as we have the faith to repent and obey the principles and ordinances of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a great blessing we have in our lives and we must share it and use it every day!

Well, I love you all. I can't say it enough. You mean the world to me and I really couldn't be here without such a wonderful support system. I want you to have the happiness that comes from living the Gospel. You've made my life better by helping and encouraging me to live it myself. I hope you have a great week and keep recognizing the Lord's hand in everything you do. It's there, we just need to look for it!

Love,

Elder Rowley