The last e-mail

Date: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 7:36 AM
Subject: The Last E-mail

Hello!
Well, this is it. The e-mail of e-mails. It's all gone so fast and been so much fun, and I still have more amazing things to tell you about this week!

First things first, my birthday was amazing. I've recognized that in England it was actually the morning of the 5th of August when I was born in the States, so I could actually celebrate it on both days, haha! We had interviews and training in Chorley and it went very well. Elder Chambers and I trained on committing people to Baptism and helping them progress towards it. Trainings are so much fun. Then at lunch Elder Chambers brought out a cake that he made for me and the zone sang happy birthday to me! It was so nice. In the evening we went to a family called the Newtons for tea and they spoiled me as well. They have a son, Austin, who had his first birthday on the 4th, so we celebrated our birthdays together. My favorite part about seeing them was that their young daughter picked out a nice princess birthday cake for Austin an I, it was great! When we got in that evening I found that the other Preston Elders decorated the space above my bed with "Happy Birthday" and some stars around it. That's still in the space above my bed. Then on the 5th we went to the home of a great couple named Richard and Laura who I've become good friends with. They also spoiled me with a nice dinner and chocolate cake at the end! I also really enjoyed the cards I got from some of you and some people here. All in all it was probably one of the best birthdays ever!

In other news I got to hear the bagpipes up close on Saturday, we visited a less-active man who played them for us. They are really loud, but they sounded amazing. I'd love to go to Scotland someday, especially after serving with Elder McKechnie! Also in other news, Peter cleaned our car this week (he's a car valeter), and it looks amazing. I've never seen it so clean! By the way, I'm still loving driving manual transmission, it's way better than automatic!

As for the people we're working with they are doing pretty well. Marisol wasn't at Church this weekend because she wasn't well, but Kaela came! He really enjoyed it as always. Oh and we also played investigator football and basketball on Saturday and Kaela enjoyed that as well. It was a lot of fun. Kaela has a lot of questions and I really enjoy teaching him for that reason, but I can see him progressing towards Baptism soon. We were also blessed with some amazing miracles teaching new investigators this week.

I think yesterday in itself was just an amazing day. I got to work with Elder Hanchett on exchanges and right from the morning we were blessed. Somehow my alarm clock didn't go off, but we ended up waking up at exactly 6:30 anyway! Our bodies must just have it built into us now! Anyway, I got to play the piano for church again and it was a great service. After church Haiming asked me to give him the Aaronic Priesthood so we got to do that. It was an incredible experience. It's amazing how you become more and more confident giving Priesthood ordinances the more you do it, I almost didn't even have to look at the guidelines to ordain him!

The best part was after that, in the evening. We were tracting and hoping and praying for new investigators. We decided to pray for the Lord to increase our faith and as always, He sure did. Just a few moments after our prayer Elder Chambers rang and said that he'd rang a potential investigator that wanted to see us in just 15 minutes! So Elder Hanchett and I quickly went to this mans house and he let us in and we taught him and his wife! They are such amazing people, they have high standards, he was an Engineer and a mountain man, and they already have faith in Christ and live some church standards. I love them already, and felt such a connection with them while we were teaching. It's amazing to me also because at the beginning of my mission there's no way I would have had the confidence or the faith to do something like this. If you notice, it's only been in the past few months that I've been having experiences like this and it's because I've learned it throughout my mission.

Which leads me to my final piece of knowledge I've gained from my mission. The Gospel is about who we become, not what we do. What we do helps us to become saints, but that's our end goal, is to become better than we are. Through our obedience to the principles and ordinances of the Gospel, we can become saints and one day become like our Heavenly Father. I testify that this is true. I feel that I've come closer to this on my mission. This is really what it means to consecrate our lives to our Heavenly Father, to dedicate ourselves and all we do and are to helping others to come unto Christ. That's the simple purpose of a Missionary, and that's why we're all Missionaries, because that's all of our purpose. A full-time Missionary just invites others through teaching the restored Gospel. As individual members we invite others to come to Christ through our callings, through Missionary work in our work places and everywhere we go, and through our example and service to others. I testify that this brings the most happiness that we can attain in this life, and that it will lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven that will never go away. I've also learned that to become we must go above and beyond the call of duty. This work isn't about the duty we have to God. It's not even about receiving our own benefit and blessings, although that is a worthy desire to have and can be part of the reason for our service. But the highest level of consecration and sacredness comes when we do things because we want to and not because we have to. And when we want to because we want to bless others lives. This is what I've discovered on my mission. This is the well of living water that Christ spoke of. This is how we will be able to endure to the end, if we refine and purify our lives, not for our own benefit and gain, but rather so we can bless others. Now, I'm not saying that I've become perfect at this or that I'm more sacred than anyone else, I've only just discovered it and have a long way to go to become like Christ in this way. But I just want to testify to you that this is true because I've experienced it. I testify that this Gospel is true. The restoration is real and powerful. Faith really does produce miracles. God does live. Jesus is the very Christ, the literal Son of God. The Holy Ghost does live also and dwells in us to teach us truth and does so much more for us as we are worthy of his presence. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the true word of God as is the Bible. I testify that reading, pondering, and praying about the Book of Mormon are critical, absolutely critical, for an enduring conversion. I know this to be true because I'm experiencing it for myself. This Gospel is glorious and brings so much joy and light into our lives. Let us share that light with every single person around us in whatever way it may be. Let us invite others to come to Christ in every way we can, and become like our Heavenly Father.

I love you all more than I can say. I have so much to be thankful for throughout my mission and my life and if it weren't for you I wouldn't have these many blessings. Keep pressing forward holding onto the iron rod. It's always worth it in the end, even if it's very hard in the beginning. Keep up the amazing work!

Love,

Elder L. Rowley

Elder Chambers and Elder Rowley

7 Months in Preston!

Keep serving!

Date: Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 6:02 AM
Subject: Re: Hap-py Birth-day!!!Hello!

Oh the joys of being a Missionary! They never end! As usual I'm loving serving in Preston just as much as ever. The people, Missionaries, history, work, and feel of this place are just amazing. I feel to it like the people at the waters of Mormon did towards that place (see Mosiah 18:30). It was there that they came to a knowledge of their Redeemer and I feel that the same has happened for me here, just in a different way. What a great mission it's been!

Well, the days are numbering few and going faster every day. Just so you know, don't send any post after August 11th because I probably won't get it. Anything before that is fine. And for anyone who wants anything from England they'd better let me know in the next week! So that's that. I'm very excited to see you all again but I'm still planning to work as hard as ever in the next couple weeks. Your prayers and faith for this are much appreciated.

I can hardly believe that I'll be 21 on Wednesday. I still don't even feel like I'm 20! Anyway, Elder Chambers let the word out to some members and so we've got a couple of tea appointments for tomorrow and Wednesday. In one of these families we're going to they've got a son who is turning 1 on the same day! It'll be exciting. I love the members here, they feel like family. Oh and they're also letting me speak in the ward on the 14th and that should be a good experience. Anyway, also on Wednesday Elder Chambers and I will get to do a training for the zone and it should be fun. I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes. I'm excited. Birthdays on missions are the best.

As for our week we have been very busy. It's been so much fun. On Monday we taught in FHE again but none of our investigators were there sadly. We did have a spirit-filled lesson and a fun game with some of our recent converts though. I also found out yesterday that both Peter and Haiming will be getting the Priesthood soon! I'm so excited for him. This is the blessing of getting to serve in an area for so long, you get to see people be found, taught, Baptized, and start to receive more of the blessings of the Gospel! It makes me so happy to see them doing so well.

Tuesday morning we made the long drive up to Carlisle for District Meeting up there. We learned a lot from the District Leader there, Elder Wagner, and even got to go on exchanges with him and his companions for a couple days. It was great, we were really blessed. And I saw the Isle of Man while we were there!! It was so exciting. Anyway, we saw so many miracles while we were there. Just one was when we were walking down the street. First of all, you have to understand that our mission is a forever finding mission, meaning we strive to talk with EVERYONE. So Elder Wagner and I were doing that. And as we were walking down the street we heard, in one of the side streets, a car that was running. Both our heads perked up at the same time and we turned to go up that street. We were able to talk with a couple of young lads and even got to teach them about the restoration! They both accepted copies of the Book of Mormon and I'm excited to hear about their progress in the future. The Lord truly blesses His Missionaries, even when they do the littlest thing.

Also while we were up there on exchanges I got to ride on a bike for the first time in like 3 years or something, it was crazy. I was sore afterwards, but it was a lot of fun!

As for our investigators they are doing well. They have just a few things that hold them back from really progressing and being Baptised, and we're working to help them overcome those things. Kaela is scheduled for the 28th of August to be Baptised, and Marisol is also working towards that date. Both of them really need solid testimonies of the Book of Mormon though, and that's one thing that you can pray for them to gain. I feel happy though knowing that whether or not they're Baptized I'll still be a friend to them no matter what. That's just another amazing thing about Missionary work, you just make new friends all over the place!

Well, that's about it for this week. Another thing I've learned on my mission is of the power of prayer. I kind of already knew this but I've really experienced it so much while I've been here. That's another thing I've learned as well, experience teaches us much more than just having knowledge or facts in our minds. Anyway, prayer truly changes things. I remember seeing a little block in Grandpa and Grandma Rowley's house that says that, and I've always remembered that. I remember I told you a few weeks ago about that time I was very homesick and I prayed for strength and was blessed with it and how it changed my mission. Well, I have had countless other experiences like that. Even the smallest prayer about the seemingly most insignificant thing is so powerful. I've learned that our actions are children of our prayers, and that faithful action is just a continuation of prayer. We can and do speak to the Lord through the way we act. I've found that when we pray in faith about it then do the Lord's work that miracles happen not only for us, but for the people we serve. I testify that through prayer we can experience the power of the Atonement, for I have experienced it. I know that prayer helps us become more like our Heavenly Father. I know that prayer changes things because I've experienced it. Life is so much better when we pray always.

I love you all. I'm always thankful for your example to me and for all you do for me. Keep serving and blessing the lives of those around you. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder L. Rowley