Good day sunshine!

The beautiful Lake District

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 6:19 AM
Subject: Happy March!

Hello Everyone!

It felt great to wake up this morning and go for a run down to the River Ribble and see no clouds in the sky. It was also brighter outside as well. And it's even warming up. It feels like spring is on the way and we're all very excited! March is going to be a great month.

We had an amazing week last week. Our efforts the week before really paid off. Tuesday was probably one of the most miraculous days of my mission. At 10:00 we were walking out of the flat just like normal but Elder Griffeth wasn't feeling well. So as we were driving we kept getting promptings to go back and stay in. After taking his temperature and discussing the pros and cons we decided it would be best for everyone if we stayed in so Elder Griffeth could get better. Well, while he was sleeping I spent the entire afternoon ringing people. I must have made over 100 phone calls to potential investigators or former investigators. It was so much fun and it went fast. But the amazing thing about it was that from that I set up a few appointments to go teach people!

So that night we went to one of these appointments I scheduled and taught a couple of young women from Nepal named Karisma and Deepa. As we taught the Restoration they felt the spirit and committed to come to Church! So we were blessed with two new investigators! But that's not even the half of the blessings we received that night. We walked out the door and spoke with maybe 3 people and a man named John let us walk with him to his home and teach him! He started to smoke halfway through the lesson though, and we didn't want the Holy Ghost to leave so we asked him to stop. He promptly kicked us out of his home and we were suddenly in the street wondering what just happened. So we walked back to the area where we parked the car and stopped a man walking into a convenient store. We stopped him and he said that we could teach him right there after he got a soft drink. So we taught him the Restoration and he became a new investigator and accepted to be Baptised in a few weeks! And he lives right next to Karisma and Deepa. I was just in awe the whole night at what was happening. So we had 3 new investigators just from a simple follow up with a potential investigator. But that's not all just yet.

On Wednesday we had interviews and training and we got to train for an hour and a half on teaching the commandments. It went really well and I was really happy for that. We also had another great training from Sister Bullock about study and it's enhanced all of our studies so much. It also felt great to be with our zone and get to serve them. That night, for just a little while, I got to work with one of our Assistants to President Bullock, Elder Bills. We taught another new investigator named Sunny. He was great and we will hopefully see him sometime this week. He is also friends with a Recent Convert which will make the conversion process easier.

Then on Thursday we taught another person that I rang when Elder Griffeth was feeling ill. His name is Grant and he is an amazing Chinese University student. He liked learning about the Restoration and just before we left he said "I am interested in your Church." It was amazing. He even came to Church yesterday and he enjoyed it! The only thing that might hold him back is that he is very busy. Pray for him to understand the importance of us teaching him and allow us to teach him more. So that was another new investigator from the people that I rang on Tuesday.

On Friday I got to work with Elder Knight from London. He is amazing. I came out with him and even got to work with him once before and it was great to work with him again. He has improved and he said that I have as well. He taught me a lot about having care and concern for investigators. He is so good at teaching for their needs. I really enjoyed working with him.

The next day we saw many amazing miracles, but one really stands out to me. We had this referral for a woman named Wendy that we've had for a while. So we had some time to visit her and as I knocked on her door and shared the Gospel with her and how Families can be together forever she happily accepted to learn more and even asked me if we could set up a return appointment! She is amazing and we are seeing her on Wednesday. We just keep seeing miracles left and right!

And then there was yesterday. Also very miraculous. Church was great, we had recent converts there, less-actives we're working with, and even Grant as I said before. Elder Kerr, an Area Seventy, was there and we all learned a lot from him. Oh and I even got to play the piano again and I'm starting to enjoy that more and more. We just felt great when we came out of Church. Then in the afternoon we were street contacting/tracting in an area and met a man named Evans who let us teach him! He is from Africa originally, but he's lived in Leeds most of his life! I was excited about that. Anyway, we taught him the Restoration and he soaked it all up so well and also accepted to be Baptised in a few weeks. It was amazing. We also were able to meet many more really good people yesterday and set up return appointments with them. I'm excited to see who we'll get to teach this week from those people!

Well, this is getting to be a very long e-mail. But it's just evidence to me that as we put in our full efforts; heart, might, mind, and strength; and trust in the Lord to make up for what we can't do, then we see miracles. This is what faith is. It truely precedes the miracle and it all comes from us taking some sort of action in the right direction. I testify that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and it is how I gain my testimony of Jesus Christ. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true Prophet of God and that if we will do what God tells us through President Monson then we will be happy. The Gospel is true, let us live it!

I love you all. I hope you have a wonderful week and keep up the amazing work. Don't forget that I'm always mindful of you in my prayers and that you've done so much to help me to be here. I can't thank you enough for all you do for me.

Love,

Elder L. Rowley