Dragons to feed, Part I

Mum,

Thanks for the info about the card and stuff. Be sure to tell everyone thank you for me. About driving lessons, the mission rule is that you have to take two driving lessons before you can drive and I did that like a month or two ago so I won't need anymore. After a year I'll have to take my test (if I'm asked to) and they will refund 100 quid of it, so we should be fine. Don't worry about me going overboard moneywise, I'm not buying anything unless it is dirt cheap! I actually found a Brazil football top for 7 pounds on Monday! Steal! I'll send my Christmas package home this next week so keep an eye out for it! I'm glad to hear Jon is still doing great and the other ones too, I need to write more letters. Christmas was a lot of fun and boxing day was alright. It is like a second Christmas day here but we were still working all day so it was pretty unsuccessful. But we're excited for this week (even though its half gone) and it should be pretty epic. We've been doing loads of finding again and we're really struggling to find new people to teach. I've explained how weird our area is but I'm confident that we'll figure something out, we've got the Lord on our side anyways! Its funny that you should mention buddy though. We knocked on this guys door yesterday and he said he couldn't let us in because he'd just come in from town and he had to unload some insects cause he had dragons to feed. You should have seen his face when I started telling him about buddy. I almost demanded that he let us in and have us help feed them but he still said no. He was a really nice guy bud insisted that we not come in because his dog would go crazy. I was disappointed cause it would have been sweet but oh well. There is someone that we are working with that I haven't told you about much that I realized. So there is a less-active named Pamela who just started coming back to church and she has an 8 year old named Gemma who we will baptise this month. Since she is just 8 she doesn't count as a convert but she is still really fun to work with. She had the greatest answers ever! Yesterday I asked her how she would describe a prophet (mind this is right after we named a couple of prophets) her answer was, "its the person who God speaks through". It's pretty crazy how smart she is, when you ask her a question she will sit and think about it for a long time and then give the smartest answers. Its pretty exciting! Well I'd better get to work, we've got quite a day planned ahead so I'll talk to you on Tuesday (its another bank holiday on Monday).

Love you loads!

Elder Rowley

Gotta catch -em all!

Miracle realised...

Elder Rowley, Michael, Elder Jensen


Slavik and family



Mum,

The baptism was amazing, this guy Michael is great. It was funny because I hadn't actually met him until the baptism itself but there is plenty of time for that. Transfers have come and gone and nothing has changed in pretty much the entire mission. Elder Jensen's going to have to tough it out for another 6 weeks with me and a total of 7 1/2 months in Leeds 4. But it is a great place to be. We were a bit disappointed about church on Sunday though because we had like 9 people confirmed and none of them showed up. It was frustrating and it always seems to be the little things that come back in bite you in the butt. There is so much I still don't know how to do as a missionary! Oh well, I've still got some time and the Lord wants me to figure it out too! Haha, well I wish I had some information about calling on Saturday but I really haven't planned that far ahead. We have 3 full days of work before then so I haven't even thought about it. But I'll do what I can and see if I can call sometime in the morning. Hopefully you'll all be around! Haha, it will be a surprise for all of us to find out. Our mission p-day is this Thursday though and we are going to an American Air Force Base called Harrogate and we're getting pretty excited. I don't even know what we will do but I'm ready for some rest. I didn't realise how much I needed p-days until we had a week without one! But it is good and we only have 3 more days til we get some rest. Crazy and fun things keep happening to us though, I was in the car with the Leeds 2 elders and it just broke so we've spent all day pretty much doing nothing! But I guess that's how things work out sometimes. The main person we are working with right now is a girl named Tamara from Kenya. Her mum was a less active and she wants to get baptised but she is taking things really slow. She is really just waiting for an answer to the Book of Mormon and its frustrating cause all we can do is wait. Oh well, we are receiving help from on high about how to deal with people and it is great. We have also been trying to move out of certain areas that have been worked a lot and it has been an adventure. Our area is really splotchy and thus it makes it difficult to travel without a car but we manage. Last week we went to an area called Rothwell and we had some pretty high hopes. They absolutely hated us though! We got chased off, yelled at, and cursed by all sorts of people, including a man dressed in leiter-hosen carrying a beer. It was lame! But overall funny and we still had a pretty good week. I think the main thing we are going to focus on is finding some new people to work with and progressing them for a date in January. It is exciting but difficult as I'm sure Luke will tell you. But I've better head out, we've got to scrounge together and save this day! Love you mum, talk to you soon!
Elder Rowley



Dad,
Transfers and this week have been really out of whack so I do get to e-mail today but it is not p-day. We've have some craziness so I couldn't e-mail until about 4 o-clock our time! Haha, but we've been doing really good. Elder Jensen got to baptise Michael Spear and he is amazing, the first time I met him was at his baptism! We're really excited but now we've just got to find someone that we can progress to get baptised! The Leeds 2 ward also baptised a Czech boy named Slavik and boy was it a fun night. It was really exciting and made me want to work and baptised even more now! And as far as transfers go, you were right we are both staying. Only about 10 teams in the entire mission moved so it was a little boring.... but oh well. Elder Jensen will have a 7 1/2 month area and it is just another excuse to find someone for us to baptise next month! I was a bit disappointed to look back and realise that even though our work has improved over the last month there are few people we are solidly working with. It is frustrating but it means we have to be bold and find new people to work with. We are having some adventures and going to all sorts of new areas which is really fun. This part of the mission is really really splotchy and its difficult to get around because buses only come once an hour or so, but we manage. It is a lot of fun though. Sometimes you luck out and other times it sucks though. We went to an area called Rothwell and they all hated us, then we knocked on person of another faith (that proselytizes)'s door and he said they cover the area pretty well, I guess we figured out why they hate us! Haha, but I know that we are doing our job and that the Lord is going to bless us in the end. I just hate it when my lack of knowledge as a missionary causes us to miss opportunities. I realise now that my mission has been the only thing in my life that hasn't come easy to me. Everything else I've ever tried has just been a very simple matter and I can get it under my feet in a couple of days. I am having a hard time getting everything under my feet, I keep forgetting simple things and so on. It's very humbling and it is easy to get frustrated but I can't. I just have to move on, learn, and not make the same mistakes twice. If anything else, the Lord will just work things out for me in a way I can't understand! My mission has definitely been a blast so far though! I hope the next 18 months are even better. Chances are I'll stay in Leeds 4 for 6 months total so I've really got a chance to make things work! It's really exciting and intimidating but at the same time it's why the Lord sent me here! Well we'd better get to work Dad so I'll talk to you on Saturday.
Love you
Elder Rowley

Zack spotting

A friend of mine recently moved to the U.K. (Her husband is in the military.) They had an opportunity to go off base for the weekend and decided to go check out the Christmas market in Leeds. She asked me what Zack liked and put together a few goodies for him and decided to drop it off their flat if they couldn't find the missionaries at the church. Here is her report:

Zack was good. I found where the Leeds 4 chapel was, and since you had mentioned a baptism, we decided to drive by and see if anyone was there. Perfect timing. We got there just as the bishop was welcoming the new member to the ward. After the closing prayer, I peeked into the chapel and saw him standing right next to the door. He glanced at me, but having no idea who in the world I was, kept chatting with his companion. I stepped towards him, put my hand on his shoulder, and asked if he was Elder Rowley. His said "yes" kind of questioningly (is that even a word?). So I went on with, "I'm a friend of your mom's." --big eyes from Zack-- me, "Dalene?" --huge eyes from Zack-- So I spilled the story of who I was, why we were there, blah blah blah. He was completely flabbergasted. (Pretty sure I have never used that word) He said that "this is the most surreal thing that has happened on my mission."

So we took a quick picture, gave him his bag of treats, wished him well, and said goodbye.

Oh, his companion glanced into the bag, and while reaching for the bag..."are those American Cocoa Puffs?" Zack had to move quick to get the bag out of Elder Jensen's reach. :)

Sometimes you get a miracle

Dad,
Well it looks like all that praying has payed off. We've have a miracle week. We worked our butts of even though it wasn't possible that we would baptise and it was great. We had loads of members teaching, tried new things, went on exchanges and had a blast. We took driving lessons last week too so I can drive here! Haha it is so much fun. But the highlight of the week is that we are going to baptise this Friday. There is guy named Michael who found the church in London, was taught everything and then moved here. He was referred to Leeds 2 even though he was in our area and they talked to him and moved his date up to this Friday. He is in our ward so we'll baptise him this Friday. Its crazy because that is not how we expected the Lord to answer our prayers at all but it happened! It's really funny. That will be the first person baptised here since Februrary and it will be so good for the ward. I'm really excited. There is also a less active who came back to church and her daughter isn't baptised yet so there will be another person baptised in January. We're not giving up on that either, we're gonna boost this area to the moon. Our district is the youngest district in the mission but we are doing great and might even reach our goal of 5 baptised this month. Its pretty crazy! So exciting too. I'll tell you about another fun time I had this last week. On Friday I got to go on exchange with Elder Parham, our district leaders. He is so much fun and is the most colourful person on the earth. He has done everything and been in every state of life. He is a convert of 9, his grandparents served missions, he was homeless for a time. And just about anything else you can think of. It was so much fun to spend the day with him, he is an amazing missionary, a little unorthodox but amazing. We talked about a lot of things about missions and how difficult Utahns seem to have on their missions. They do great but a lot of the time it is missionaries from random places that excel the farthest. It all comes from the attitude that you approach the work. Sometimes it seems like people serve missions out of obligation or it doesn't seem a sacrifice while other know why their here and have a good time. That is the best thing about Elder Parham, he knows how to have a good time. We even stole the car from the other Elders for the night! haha, we actually needed it but it was fun to say we stole it. I've just had a great week and we have the same expectations for this next week. I'm excited to hear from the ward and it's great that you saw Elder Black, I still think of him often. I'll try and get my Christmas package sent off this week but I'm still doing some last minute gifting so we'll see, either way it will get there. Well dad, I love you loads and I'm proud to be your son. I'll talk to you next week.
Love,

Elder Z. Rowley


Mum,

This week was amazing! Haha, we set some really high goals and made a lot of them happen. In this mission we have what are called Standards of Excellence which are goals that mission wants to meet every week, when you reach them you get a call from the mission President on Monday and guess who he called yesterday! Haha, it was really exciting to see this area grow so much more, I love it. We were still a bit disappointed though that Elder Jensen won't be able to baptise this transfer but then......The Lord worked a miracle and sent us a man named Michael from London who is getting baptised on Friday! Haha, it was crazy and amazing. We didn't think it was possible but Elder Jensen still worked his butt off and the Lord blessed him with what he needed. Its pretty amazing to think about. I'll have more information and stories about that next week (with a picture) but I'll tell you a couple of other stories this week. So yes we did finally get people to church this week and it was great. There is a less-active that I went to see with a really solid member and when she came to church she brought her daughter who isn't yet baptised! So she will be baptised in January. Then we had this girl named Tamara who is from Kenya that has been investigating for a long time. Her mum was less-active but has come back to church and we are still working with Tamara to get her baptised soon. It is all up to the Book of Mormon for her and then she can be baptised any day. I did have another crazy experience this week which was similar to one I had in Newcastle. There is a recent convert that my trainer baptised that we went to see on Friday. She is living with a partner and wanting us to teach him the gospel so we came by. We were left downstairs with her two kids waiting for about 20 minutes for them to come down. We needed to move on so we told the kids to tell her to call us when she was ready. She then comes down and he goes out the door. Apparently they had had a big fight and split up and once again we were left to sort it out. For the next 30 minutes we heard her the story of her life and it was a bit too personal for the missionaries, she needed to talk to her bishop. We tried to take direction but it wasn't really going anywhere so we just asked if we could say a prayer with her. She said of course and Elder Jensen said a prayer. Suddenly evertthing clicked for me. I told her she had to go to church, she needed to talk to her bishop and repent. Needed a blessing from the bishop or her home teachers and gave her a scripture to read. Just like that woman who collapsed crying and was beaten by her husband in Newcastle, the Spirit took over! Oddly enough the scripture I gave her was the exact same one I read with the last woman 2 Nephi 4. It was pretty crazy! That was just another example of the Lord helping those he calls because I get so awkwarded out in those situations I didn't know what to do. It was crazy. Well Christmas is coming soon and I'll be sending a package home this week, hopefully. It might take me an extra week so everyone will be getting late Christmas presents this year! Haha, but that's alright, that's how we do things in the Rowley clan. Thanks so much mum for everything. I'll talk to you soon. I love you.
Elder Z. Rowley

The world was about to end

Elder Jensen warming up

Mum,

We had so much snow this week! Well, only about six inches but the world was about to end for people here. All the trains, buses, streets, schools, and shops closed down. They said don't go out unless you absolutely had to. So we did, it was great! I'm amazed that they didn't hold church in Newcastle but they do get a lot more snow that we do. I'll be sending a Christmas package soon and we're going shopping so keep an eye on the bank account. Driving lessons should only be about 20 quid so you wont' have to worry too much. Other than that the work is going good, even though this was a bad week. Unfortunately I lost focus mid-week and we suffered ever since then. We would still work but not hard enough for this area or for our missions! It was disappointing to say in the least and it was not fun to report at the end of the week. Not because we got in trouble or yelled at but because all our leaders care so much about us that they know our potential. It's crazy how when you let up just a little bit things fall apart. It is sad to admit but all we can do is learn from it and push forward. We are planning on having an amazing week though and instead of just hoping things turn out we are gonna work until they do. I'm learning a lot on my mission about life and about missions, unfortunately some of it is learned the hard way. Oh well, the ward and the missionaries and the Lord are forgiving and loving so that is all the more motivation to push forward. We are gonna try and have a bit more fun as well, I can tell we are getting stressed so don't be surprised if Elder Jensen writes home next week about how I randomly hit him with snowballs. I have also been writing church websites on the inside of foggy buses while we travel! It's the little crazy things we do in life that keep us all sane. So as far as stories go or amazing spiritual experience this week the most we had was our Zone Development Meeting. It snowed the whole time so they just let the meeting go on and on and on. It was frustrating because the church was in our area so we could have worked but no bother. It was quite spiritual and really fun too. It is great to have a zone that loves each other and wants to succeed. We also have massive testimony meetings at the end of them which are always good, even though I'm not comfortable bearing my testimony. It was a spiritual feast to say in the least! So this week was a challenge but like I usually say in my letters we will just have to work twice as hard this next week. I don't know what it is but everywhere I go people never come to church! It is the biggest struggle for me in my mission so far, I think Satan knows that as soon as they come once they will be sold, so he does all he can to keep them from coming. Oh well we have got God on our side we just have to use Him. We are still having fun though and are as happy as ever! Elder Jensen and I get on great and we tease each other all the time. It is a joy to work with him. Well I'd better get on with our P-day if you want a Christmas present! Well thanks so much mum. I got your letter from Thanksgiving and it made my day. I've got some pretty crazy cousins and I'm exciting to see them all again. Well I'd better go, give everyone in the ward my love. Have they had you report on me in church yet? That would be soooo weird. That makes me feel really old but I'm not. I play with all the kids toys when we teach people with children. Haha, well I'll talk to you next week mum. I love you.
Elder Rowley


Dad,


Well like I told mum this week has been a bit disappointing. It was mostly my fault is the worst problem! I just lost focus during the week and wasn't working as hard as I should have been. Don't get me wrong I wasn't a complete slack or waster as they say but I wasn't working the way that you taught me to. It is sad and frustrating but oh well I guess we can just look ahead. Our District Leader Elder Parham was frustrated too, mostly because he knows how good we could be. We have been working so hard and finally making progress but we just let up a little bit and we lost sight of our goals and things caved. To top it all of nobody came to church again! The funny thing was we sit down and look at each other a bit disappointed and said oh well and laughed a bit to de-stress when all of a sudden! Guess who walks in and sits down on the stand? President Lindley and his wife. It was just disappointing that we couldn't have had people there to show the President what we can do in this area. Oh well, the best thing about a mission is that you always have one more week. Don't get me wrong though we did still have a really fun week, just wasn't as rewarding as we'd hoped. We have been having fun in the snow even though everything grinds to a halt in this country. Instead of plowing roads here they just put down a load of grit which is like salt and rocks and stuff. It doesn't do much good and its really funny to see how people panic in the snow. We had one lady almost yell at us for being out in it. She was really angry that we were out. But with the snowballs and the chavs throwing snowballs we had some fun. We had a turkey bowl last week and played American football in the snow and boy was it fun. It is good to hear all the fun stuff happening at home. I'm excited to see the Crookston girls again. There are so many little kids here than remind me of them all, it is lots of fun. That is a definite testimony that we don't always see the benefits of our missionary work and that has definitely been one of the highlights of my week! Well I'd better get on, we are going Christmas shopping today and I'll hopefully mail some stuff home next week or this week. I'm taking driving lessons on Tuesday and it has almost been 6 months since I drove last! Wish me luck! Haha, love you Dad. Don't worry about me and Elder Jensen we are in the Lord's hands and he takes care of his own. We'll have plenty of miracles to report next week so we'll talk to you then! Love you loads.
Elder Rowley

Testing, 1,2,3 Leeds 4

Mum,

Thanksgiving rocked. We went to a buffet called Red Hot and they had so much food. It was a proper feast! Haha, I sent dad a picture. And yes it did snow, I sent some pictures to dad and I thought it only snowed like this in Utah? Haha, Our district leader from Florida called us and was like, "I was just calling to make sure you two are still doing good in the snow" I was like "No, we're both from Utah." It was funny. Our district in great even though there are only 2 teams and we are really really young. I went on exchange twice this week and wrote about a lot of it to dad so you'll have to read it from him but we also had some trials this week. Nobody came to church because it was stake conference and we couldn't get rides, we almost didn't have a ride either! It worked out good though, we also had 34 hours of finding this week! That is total madness! It is the most of my entire mission but it didn't feel as bad as the last couple of weeks. This next week we are going to improve our effectiveness so hopefully that number will go way down. We had a funny experience while knocking though. There is an amazing 15 year old convert named Martin McQueen (remember that name, he will be an Apostle someday) and he went knocking with us. For some reason he was the best luck ever! Usually knocking is ineffective and lame but with him it was amazing! We could tell he was getting cold though so we packed it in for him a bit early. We have also devised a massive transfer plan for what we are going to do with this area. I told Dad and Luke this but every missionary has a testing area, like a do or die of their mission and this is definitely mine. We are so young that we have to rely totally on the Lord to learn how to do things. But we have prayed about and code-named a plan for the transfer and area that I know is inspired and will help this area. It's getting pretty exciting and Elder Jensen is going to have his first baptism on the 18th of December. Our 6 month mark! Its gonna be crazy amazing! Haha, and this week I got a call from an office missionary who told me president wants me to take driving lessons, so we'll see what that means for the future. Elder Jensen is doing great mum. He has weak hearing (50 decibles or more) and when he wears a hat won't be able to talk to people on the streets so it will be up to me! Haha, oh well it is fun and he isn't bothered by it so we have a laugh about it. Oh and Sam is allowed to write elders via snail mail so let her know she can. Thanks for checking up on her for me, she is the standard for who we want to baptise now! Well I love you mum. I'll talk to you next week and hopefully we'll have even greater news to report!
Elder Rowley

Dad,

Haha, Thanksgiving!! I was so excited for it and we went to an all you can eat buffet to celebrate. We were street contacting and kept saying, "Happy Thanksgiving!" It was so funny. I don't think any of the members even knew it was thanksgiving but when us missionaries got together we talked about it a lot. Still my favourite holiday by far! Haha, well this week has been a crazy one. On Monday I got a call from my good friend Elder Swain (I used to live with him) saying that he and his companion (Elder Jensen's last companion) were going on exchange with us on Tuesday for the whole day. I was so excited and we had a blast talking about missions and life in general. He is a great guy and I'm sure you'll meet him someday. We also talked about this area, he used to serve here when it was a lot better and we got to talking. He told me that every missionary has a testing area and that this was mine. It's the chance for me to show President and the Lord what I can do in an area. It's kind of intimidating but exciting at the same time! I knelt in prayer and asked the Lord for help to know what actions to be made. Me and Elder Jensen talked about it and we are making a transfer plan to improve the area, its exciting! Its a great opportunity to figure stuff out on our own as well, our district is the youngest ever. Our district leader has been out 6 months and then there is us and then someone who has been out 3 months. The amazing thing is that we are doing great! Nobody came to church because of conference this week but next week we are planning on 23 as a district! I have never set so many high goals in my life but there is nothing stopping us from achieving them! Our goal is to baptise 2 people on the 18th of December which is the last week in the transfer and our 6 month mark. It will be a great mile marker for Elder Jensen to baptise on his 6 month mark and we might baptise like 6 as a district on that day. Crazy crazy crazy! Well you're right, it did snow this week! We got loads of snow and I'll send a lot of pictures of it. I also went on exchange with Elder Young in Leeds 2. He has been out 3 months and we had some fun times. We taught a houseful of Filipinos and then we went to the crazy Czech house. So to explain, the Leeds 4 elders are teaching a family of Czechs who don't speak any English. Two of the kids are getting baptised and the rest hopefully in time will understand what it means. The house is utter madness. Kids running, screaming, naked, in Czech and English. The dad and mum don't speak a word of English and both smoke and so does the oldest who is 31. His name is Franta and he speaks little English and when he does it is so funny. We spend like 20 minutes just trying to explain words to them. Then there is Slavik who is 12 and getting baptised. He breaks and punches everything and always asks, "You fight me Elder Rowley". It is so funny! Then there is Teresa who is equally equally Czech. When we teach the greatest teaching tool we have in Google Translator. Yes, it's that bad. It was the funnest night ever though! That was probably the craziest thing that has happened here but it was so much fun. This next week is gonna be even better and we have to bring 6 people to church to baptise them on the 18th! Haha, it will happen! Love you dad. I missed you during Thanksgiving but it will still be there when I get back. We are gonna play football in the snow today! Here are some pictures soon.

The spirit of Thanksgiving

Mum,
Still looking, we've met some really great people and are working hard every day but there is still a lot of opposition. For two days straight every single appointment we had flogged us. It was lame! But we talked to a lot of people on the way and got appointments with even more people, who also flogged. Oh well we're still working hard! I finally got your package. Clif bars! Haha I was so excited! And that music that Steve sent is amazing. The Lower Lights Hymn Revival is great, I listen to it all the time and sing it in between (I've already apologised to Elder Jensen for it) We did have some great opportunities this week though. We met this girl from Botswana and taught her a really good lesson, by the end she wanted to know if she could meet the prophet. We looked at each other and said, "Sure!" It was exciting. Then we had a ward activity called, "Taste the World" where people brought food from all over the world. We have food from the Philippines, Africa, South America, and some English food too. It was really fun and the ward brought some nonmembers that we got to talk to. The food was really good too! There is some sad news though. There was a former investigator that Elder Jensen had taught before I got here who is in ICU for liver failure because she is an alcoholic. She probably won't live past this next week and we are trying to give her a priesthood blessing but the family might not let us. The other downside is that we taught one of her roommates who is having a hard time with it all and he was touched by the Spirit and said that he wanted to be baptised with her when she got better. We're praying for a miracle and that she will pull through and that we can baptise them both. We'll see what the Lord has in store for us though. Well I'd better crack on, hopefully I will get to a bookstore today and find you those books and maybe do a little more Christmas shopping but we shall see.

Love you all. Ing-at! (Tagalog for take care!)
Elder Rowley


It's the first picture and the house on the left. That very top window is my study window so you got it. If you go one street over onto Ring Road the chapel is on the corner of Kingswear Parade. I can see it from my window. I do have some pictures of the other houses though because I've been taking pictures of the fog in to mornings and that is right across the street from us. I'm excited for you to go to Duchesne. I was talking to President Lindley about deer hunting earlier in the week and if made me realise that this week was thanksgiving. Take a picture of anything you'd like, I'm just excited you're going. That will be really fun. On Thursday we'll probably be eating at a member's named Ilsy, she is from Africa and loves missionaries and the Filipinos come over and it is a right good time. If having thanksgiving with a Columbian, 3 Africans, and some Filipinos isn't in the Spirit of thanksgiving I don't know what is! Ya we have been working really hard to get Elder Jensen that baptism so I know that the Lord will make sure it happens in the end. This week has been mad though. For two days in a row every single person we tried to see flogged us (that's English for not showing up) but oh well. I am trying to learn how to work this area, it is quite different from Newcastle but it is a fun adjustment. When you move an area you tend to loose a lot of fears and try a lot of new things so that's what I've been trying to do. It is really fun but hopefully we get more effective about it. We had a great activity at the church called "taste the world" and there were lots of foods from different places and it was really fun. The members brought some nonmembers too so I was a great night. We were hoping all those people would come to church with us on Sunday but we were disappointed to have nobody there. Oh well I guess we will have to work in degrees. This week was a major improvement from last week and I know we can do better and better. President Lindley gave us some training on Thursday morning and he said the he could look at his board of missionaries and pick out those that he could put anywhere with anyone and after three weeks they would be reaching the standards for the mission (it's what the mission president expects of our key indicators like lessons with members and church and stuff) and they will baptise after 6 weeks. I think that we can do that here in Leeds 4 and get it just in time for Elder Jensen to for sure be here for it. So while this week wasn't everything that we wanted it to be it was a major improvement from last week. All we can do is take it one day at a time and we'll be able to look back and see our progress. It's like you always taught me about taking tests, just one question at a time. I did have an extraordinary experience this week when we gave a member a blessing. Other than her name being really long and in Portuguese it was great. It is amazing to be able to feel the Spirit work through you in a such a powerful way. We are hoping to give a blessing to an investigator in the ICU with liver failure that I told mum about. She will probably die but we wanted to do all that we could to help her and have her and her friend be baptised together. That is one of our biggest goals this week. Well for Christmas I'm not really bothered. If you think of anything I might like send it my way but don't worry about anything. Mum sent some music from Steve Vistaunet that is amazing so I should be set but if there are any books that you could think of I could read that would be great, (I've been trying to read in my spare time at the flat and it is really fun, I'm almost half done with Jesus the Christ and wanted to read Articles of Faith but I don't have one) so that is all I could think of. I'm just like you though, I couldn't really care so I'm a pain to shop for! But if you'd like anything let me know! Love you dad. I'll miss you during Thanksgiving but shoot a muskrat for me this year!
Elder Rowley

Urgency!

The flat on Hollyshaw Lane

Mum,


Leeds is great. It's a whole other animal but it is great. There is an entire Leeds stake and I think it is 5 or 6 wards. Me and Elder Jensen are doing great and both are going to work really really hard. Nobody has been baptised here since Feburary so we've got our work cut out for us. We've been walking so fast lately its pretty funny, I keep yelling urgency! That's what they've told us that we need to have a sense of urgency about the work. And ya we live with the Harlows and they are great but the member that they are talking about is Rosie Wray. She is the mission mum of the world! She does our shopping our wash, takes us the fancy dinners, and buys us everything we need and some things we don't! She bought me some trousers last week. I kind of looked at Elder Jensen and said, but I don't need trousers. She has a massive heart and loves all the missionaries she meets. That seems to be how everyone here feels and since I've lived and served with everyone who has served here (Elder Black, Elder Swain, and Elder Laduke) they think I'm alright too! I keep meeting such amazing loving members of the church and how much they love their missionaries that I want to find someone like that so bad. It really has given us such a great desire to push forward and push we have! We have knocked so many doors this last week its not even funny, we have chased down and yelled down and waved down everyone we meet. Asking everyone is they want to come to church and even some people on the street if they would be baptised! The work is very different here and I pray I'll be able to keep up and catch on quick! I am so happy that Matt is the Bishop! How great is that! I'm so excited for me and Jon to come home and see him and the bishopric all together! Its so funny. And yes I will find that book for you and for Jenny. And no I haven't gotten your package yet so I'll be pretty excited for it this week! I send dad the address so you should be able to look up our new flat. I hate to say it but I hardly thought about home at all this week, I guess it means I've been working hard enough! Just kidding, I have a picture of the family by my bed and think of you all often. Take care of everyone and let me know if anyone needs anything from across the pond!
Love you loads mum.
Elder Rowley!


Dad,
Matt?!? That is so amazing. I am laughing so hard right now, that is going to be a major party ward. I'm so excited to be back when he is all adjusted and things. That is so funny, I can't get over it. Leeds 4 is amazing, the ward is so strong and there is a strong priesthood leadership which is amazing. The recent converts are amazing as well, there is a 15 yr old boy who is so ready to go on a mission it is amazing. He is the only one from his family who stayed in the church and has only been a member for 2 years but he is amazing. Don't be surprised when you see an Ensign article about him! And the people here love missionaries so much! It is great but I can see that it may be a temptation when things get hard but we are gonna work our butts off! This area hasn't baptised since February so Elder Jensen hasn't seen a baptism on his mission yet. We are going to break the cycle and we are already working really hard. We almost did 24 hours of knocking since I've been here and its only been 3 days! I'm really excited but a bit disappointed with this zone. I told Luke about it so you can ask him but there are so many missionaries here but the work is not going as well as other places. It is definitely difficult but it will be worth it in the end! I'll take a lot of pictures of people and send them home so you can see them. I'll tell you a quick funny story and then I'll have to e-mail mom. So last night we were waiting for a bus (they don't come as often here) and I saw this woman in the window at the house a ways away. I looked at her and waved to her in the dark. I was surprised that she waved back! I turned around smiling and looked back in a few minutes and she invited us over. She yells down from the window, "Do you want a can of pop?" It was so funny. She sent her son down and he gave us both a can of pop. I'm gonna start waving to everyone now! That story isn't very spiritual but it was really funny. Hopefully I'll send some great spiritual stories next week. And sorry that is not our house. We live with members in the third story of their house. The address is 70 Hollyshaw Lane, Crossgates, Leeds, LS1 7AG. Well we are going to go play football now. Send Bishop Marvell my love and the family as well. Love you dad
Elder Rowley

Life Flight!

Well papa I'm moving! I'm going to the Leeds 4 ward with Elder Jensen. The Elder who came out with me who I sat next to on the plane. Its pretty crazy to think about serving with someone I came out with but I'm excited. I told mom I couldn't sleep last night and I'm already packed. I have learned from some other Elders that we live with members in Leeds 4 which is going to be a change, probably for the better! And the funny thing is I'll probably only be Elder Jensen's companion for 6 weeks because after this next transfer he will have been there for 6 months. It will be weird to have so many 6 week companions. Other exciting news is that an Elder I came out with is training this transfer so that will be pretty crazy. There are so many exciting things happening that I just can't take it! I will definitely miss Newcastle though, a lot of other areas aren't as diverse which i think is less fun. Yesterday I almost had an entire conversation with someone in Persian! We teach people from all over the world and we ever had 5 people at church last week! That is the most of my whole mission but that record isn't gonna last long. Jon Duerden said that he is gonna have to go home on a stretcher and I told him they are gonna have to take me home on life-light. It makes me so excited and I know that working hard is the key to success and happiness. Have you ever read Jesus the Christ? I have started reading it before bed and during lunch and stuff and it is really really good. I just thought I'd let you know how good it is. I'm trying to think if we had any stories to tell. It has been quite rainy recently and yesterday the rain was freezing! Don't worry I'm staying well but I don't really get bothered by the cold. Remember that one time I was up at Sundance waiting because I thought you said if I missed the bus to just wait instead of getting the next one? Every since that day I have never really been bothered by the cold. Kind of a nice advantage to cold winters huh? I have been trying to take more pictures and hopefully I can send some today but England is really pretty. Since the sun is rarely up then when it is there is a cool twilight effect. I have been trying to take advantage of it so we'll see how it works. Christmas is coming up, did you want anything? I told mum what I was planning on sending Lindsay and Kyle but I need help for everyone else. Let me know if you have any ideas. Well Dad the church is true, thank you for everything you've done for me. I wouldn't be the missionary I am now without you. Thank you so much.
Elder Rowley


Guess what mum! I'm leaving Newcastle! I'm going to the Leeds 4 ward to serve with Elder Jensen. Yes, the Elder Jensen that I sat on the plane with. Pretty crazy huh? We are going to live with members and being so close to the mission home we get to take investigators to the President's fireside on Mondays. How exciting is that? I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking about all of the new possibilities and challenges and such. I also have a long line of members that I need to say goodbye to in Newcastle. It will be hard and lame but I pulled out those thank you cards you put in my bag and I'm going to write some to the members here and start on the ones for people back home. Well we were definitely blessed a lot this week. For my entire mission we have always had a hard time getting people to church, usually only 1 person comes every week. But this week we worked our little behinds off and lo and behold 5 people came to church! There is a funny story about one of them. So we were waiting to go to tea with a member and they were stuck in traffic so we decided to knock on some doors around their house. We were kinda doing it to kill time until the member got back but we found a family of 4. At first Steve said, "I divn't believe in nowt" (Geordie for I don't believe in anything) so we were afraid it would be a lame door. Then as we kept talking to him he said he would love his wife to be baptised and when we explained a bit more about it then he said he would bring his whole family to church. When you bring a family to church it is amazing, the ward just adopts them. We were busy picking up some other people for church but when we got there Steve was waiting with the other Elders. He had a big smile on his face and said his wife was with the women and his children were in primary. They loved church and everyone loved them and they are going to be scheduled for baptism this week. Another amazing thing that happened is with a girl named Brooke. She is Chinese and is actually an investigator to the Zone Leaders but I have met her a couple of times. When they told her to start thinking about who she wanted to baptise her she came up to me after church and said she wanted me to do it! How crazy is that! Unfortunately I'll be leaving so I can't do it, but no bother! Well I'd better get going, I think I'm gonna start doing some Christmas shopping for everyone so let me know what you want. Love you so much mum. I'll be emailing from Leeds next week!
Elder Rowley

Deliver me

Ya, Luke was right about Halloween here, it was pretty lame. They didn't even make us come in early because nobody really does anything anyways. It was pretty crazy yesterday though because it was a Darvy match which is a rivalry game. Newcastle played Sunderland which is like the biggest rivalry in the North of England. There were so many people in the city centre it was amazing. It was just a flood of white and black (the newcastle uniform). Its pretty neat though, the mascot of Newcastle are the magpies. But that was a crazy thing that happened this week. this week was really up and down though. We had two really really good days and the rest were either really bad or alright. I'm gonna focus a lot on working hard though. Hopefully we'll be blessed for it! There was one instance I think I will tell you about though. So this ward has a member who is 94 years old (95 this month) and she feeds the missionaries all the time. She is just a little old lady but she cooks really good food and is a real riot. She tells the funniest stories too but the best thing happened last time we were there. I had heard that Minnie (her name is Minnie Selkirk) liked to dance and that she had a frog that if you pushed its hand she would dance to it. So this time I found the frog and pushed its hand. What happened next I was not expecting. The frog was dressed in like hip-hop stuff and started playing a rap song. Minnie starts dancing and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. She dances like a gangster! She was really good too, she did like this shuffle and it was soo funny. She is a real joy to be around. I need to start taking advantage of my mission cause its going by took quick. I might leave Newcastle next week! Transfers are almost here and it has gone by too fast. That's something I'll be working on. Well I got to go dad, we're going to holy island today! Hopefully I'll see a puffin! I'm so excited. Well dad, I love you. Keep up the good work and I'll talk to you next week.
Love, Elder Rowley
(oh ya, there is another Elder Rowley in the mission serving a mini mission so I might get a nametag with a Z on it. haha!)


That's a great picture of all those kids. I sure do miss them all, but oh well. They will just be older and funner when I get home. Halloween in the UK was a bit lame but we are both doing really well. And for Christmas I think I might just buy some things out here. Transfers are next week so today I think I'm going to try and use my card and buy a Newcastle football top or something. Just thought I'd warn you. I don't wanna buy that much stuff but football tops are always fun. Well this week has been a good one but it has been difficult. I'll just tell you about our Saturday which was amazing. So the main reason that it was amazing is because we were diligent every minute of the day. We were absolutely knackered when we came home but it was definitely worth it in the end. We went street contacting in the morning and then dropped by this woman who gave us her address. Turns out she gave us the wrong address but the person who lived there took a Book of Mormon and became a new investigator! Then we went knocking until 5 0'clock and it was amazing. We found loads of new investigators and it really made our whole week because we'd had some terrible days. I'm still a bit upset about that but there is nothing we can change except the future! Today was an amazing example of that. We met with Lee at 5 o'clock and we realised how much he cares for his family. He is finally beginning to understand tithing and said he will talk about baptism with his parents. I would be so happy to see him baptised! Then we went and saw this woman named Kathy who was taught in the 80s, she is really spiritually sensitive and is was great the first time we met her but since then it has been alright. Her dog died this week so we were afraid that she would only talk about that and it wouldn't be a very good lesson. But we were blessed and we talked about lots of the Plan of Salvation and she is believing it all and the spirit is with her when we teach her. We were also able to give her a blessing and her whole countenance changed afterwords, it was like she was 20 years younger! It was great and then we started walking home when something amazing happened. It was the night before Halloween and there were some people who were having parties on this street and this woman wobbles over to us with 2 kids in arm and collapses crying into my arms. I just stood there with a blank look on my face as Elder Wheeler tried talking to her. She was crying really hard and we calmed her down a little and sat her down in front of a house (it ended up being her house). I had no idea what to do or say and kinda just sat there as Elder Wheeler was asking her questions. Her little girl opens the post slot of their door and yells in, "Daddy, the police are here" So I started panicking afraid that the dad would flip out on us but when we told the woman we weren't police she said, "I know, you're from the church of Mormon, you were here the other day. I just need to hear some verses out of the bible" So we look at each other with blank faces and start flipping through our book of mormons. Later Elder Wheeler told me that the only thing he could think of was 1 Nephi 3:7 which he had been trying to memorise that day. So I start looking through frantically not thinking of anything when her little girl says, "Mommy, my daddy hit you" So we started realising what was really going on. I still had no idea what scripture to read when I had a thought to turn to 2 Nephi 4. Now this wasn't a strong spiritual prompting but a thought that came into my mind. So I opened it up and read to her from verse 30.

Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
31 O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?
32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!
33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.
34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I bask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

It was crazy because as soon as I started reading the verses (which happened to be perfect and even end in amen) the Spirit took over. I wasn't worried anymore about what her husband would do or what was going on, everything just came very naturally. I asked her if we could pray for her, got her phone number to check up on her, put a book mark where we read and gave her the book. It was so simple and felt so natural, it was crazy. It was a real testimony of the Lord prompting us in ways we don't expect, through simple thoughts and actions he paves the way for us. It was pretty crazy. Well that was our miracle for the week. I'll hopefully have more next week but I gotta go. Love you mum.
Elder Rowley

It's getting proper cold

Sounds like a great deer hunt. Me and Elder Wheeler said that we miss Autumn in Utah but its pretty great in England too. It is getting really cold though. And the rain yesterday was just as cold. But I couldn't be bothered, its just another adventure. Other than that the week has been great, except Elder Wheeler is trying to kill me. We have a lot of footballs in the flat and they get kicked around all the time and I was in the kitchen making a sandwich and Elder Wheeler kicked me with the ball twice. I turned around and said, "Kick me with the ball one more time!" It was funny and he rears up for a huge kick. To get a little background in our kitchen there are loads of empty bottles that other missionaries have piled up on the top of the cupboards. Well Elder Wheeler shanks a ball too high and hits all of the bottles above my head. All I heard was a really really loud crashing noise and felt a bombardment of bottles. It was really really funny and miraculously I emerged unharmed, and nothing broke either! It was quite a miracle, other than that he has just been trying to kill me with darts and other household objects. Keeps me on my toes I guess. Well we met this great African from Cameroon last week and in the lesson he said that he thinks when a prophet speaks it is like when God speaks. It was pretty great, then he invited himself to church! I was really happy but he had a long day and ended up not coming. This week has been another trying one but things are gonna change this week. I probably say that every week but it is always true. Nothing ever stays the same on a mission! Today for P-day we carved pumpkins, I'll send pictures next week and played football all day. Its quite fun because there are some really good players in England and it is everyone's favorite sport. Well I'd better e-mail mum. Hopefully I'll get a letter written tonight so I can send Lindsay's game back this week. Well I love you dad and think and talk about you often. Thanks for everything and I'll talk to you next week.
Elder Rowley

Sister Granier is doing good and her mum had surgery last week. I'm positive we are put with people for a reason, though we may never know why. I've been finding that pattern in the Book of Mormon, we just do what we're told and God takes care of the rest. Well this week has been really good and today was really fun too. We got the whole zone together and we bought pumpkins and had a Halloween party. It was pretty great and I'll send pictures next week. That's why I'm e-mailing right now because we've been doing stuff all week long. But this week has been a very very quick one as well. We have weekly planning every.....week.... and it keeps sneaking up on us. Its really easy to make goals and to have a vision for the next week but then time just slips out from under you. That will be a big thing that we will work on this week, making our goals meaningful by achieving them. I try my best to remember them but it gets hard. I've started writing really small and it made me think of when Grandma Janet told me that Grandpa Dale would always write really small on his mission. He also had just a notebook that he would always takes notes in, I think I'm going to buy a little one and do the same. Something kinda funny has happened in the mission though, there is another Elder Rowley for a while. He is serving a mini mission because another missionary got sent home and he hasn't got a nametag yet so I'm going to send him one of mine today or tomorrow. Its pretty funny and I'm going to see if they'll let me get a Z on a nametag now. How sweet would that be! Haha, its funny how the little things can make you smile. Well I'm trying to think if I have any good stories for you this week.......and unfortunatley things are going about the same. That is probably not true, I just need to look for more miracles! The weather is changing up here though. Its getting proper cold and the leaves are changing. Its quite pretty but nothing like Utah but I love it anyways. It is raining quite more now as well and I might need to start buying some warm clothes. I doubt it but just in case you notice any changes on my credit card I thought I'd let you know. Well I'd better get on with it. I love you mum. I'm looking forward to hearing from you again next week. Love you loads.
Elder Rowley

One question--one day--at a time

Elder Zack and Elder Black


I'm glad there are so many exciting things going on at home. I'm glad you got to meet Elder Black too, he was one of my heroes in the mission. We got along great and loved the work as well, he is definitely my example on how to go home from a mission properly. He was not trunky at all and it was amazing, so hopefully I can do that too. I'm glad to hear that the trucks are getting fixed, we live right next to some garages and sometimes I peek in to see what's what. its good your learning more about it so you can teach me when I get home and we can fix the new problems that have arisen! I can't believe that the hunt is getting so much shorter, that's really lame but oh well you have to take what you can get. I'm sure it will be a fun time for you and Luke to spend some time together. Thanks for the pictures of Rashae and Curtis, I really look forward to meeting him and spending a lot of time with them. Can you get me their address? I think it would be fun to write them a letter, I'm so excited for them. Well this week was an unusual blast! From Tuesday to Thursday all the leadership in the mission met in Leeds which meant that I got to stay in the flat with an Elder from Gateshead who is on his second week in the mission. It was so much fun and we worked really well together! I wonder if I'll get the chance to train someday. I remember what you wrote me in that letter when I was having a hard time getting trained and I think that will be an exciting adventure. I think I'm focusing on making things an adventure because I know I haven't got long. I talked to a member yesterday who said, "How many days do you have left?" I told him I had no idea and he said that from 544 days he counted his mission. I asked him why and he said that if you don't keep track and take advantage of every day you have left you miss it and its gone. I was really surprised and decided to count how many days I have left to serve the Lord and I've got 608. Today is my four month mark, I'm glad and sad that its been this long. I don't want it to end and realising how short it is really helps me take advantage of it. This week we had a lot of finding and not a lot of success but just before a tea appointment we were knocking and found 3 new investigators and they are all former investigators from a long time ago. One of them is an 11 yr old girl who used to read the book of Mormon when she was really little. Her Mum said that is how she learned how to read when she was like 3. I don't know what it is but I think that they are a family that I was meant to find and teach on my mission. It is difficult to explain but I already have a very sacred feeling about them, we shall see what it means. Well this week has been a good one but a short one. I'm learning a lot and trying to do my best to be a better person than I was yesterday. I'm taking it one question at a time, I just wish I was taking more pictures along the way! Haha, well I love you Dad. Thank you so much. Talk to you next week.
Elder Rowley


The pumpkins look great! For our next p-day we're gonna get the whole zone to go pumpkin picking and carve them out at the church. I'm really excited, I will feel like I'm back at home! Haha, the weather here is changing very quickly. It is getting quite cold and a lot of missionaries are getting sick but I've been taking a multivitamin and some vitamin C to protect me. I think there is vitamin D in the multivitamin as well so I should be good. Elder Wheeler is doing great and we get on really well. He's really humble and really relies on the Lord because I think he misses his family a lot. So if you can keep him in your prayers that would rock! The work is going really well, it all started with an adventure that started on Monday night. I was completely knackered after P-day and came back to the flat to find 12 missionaries staying there. There was leadership conference this week and for some reason some dumby sent all 12 missionaries to our flat. I wasn't feeling good so got in my bed as to avoid any tom foolery. But then about 5 of them walk into the room singing a hymn and suddenly stop and tackle me. If there is one thing missionaries love it is to tie up younger missionaries. This had happened to me before and I put up a fight but Elder Christensen cheater so I was proper hog tied. This time I just wanted to go to bed and was frustrated at the lameness going on so I was confident that there was no way they would tie me up. I held them up pretty well for a while but eventually caved in when I started getting clastrophobic from 6 Elders sitting on my chest. When it ended everyone looked and there was blood everywhere. I guess I'd gotten a rug burn on my elbow and didn't notice so it got all over everyone and the flat as well. Serves them right! But I had a fever that whole night and was afraid I wouldn't be able to work the next day but I knew I could make it and me and Elder Woodside (from Maine) had a great 3 days together. It was really a blast and I didn't feel that sick after a while. The funny/sad thing is that when everyone got back from the leadership conference our whole flat was sick for like 2 days. Not me, I felt fine enough to work but everyone else was shattered. Oh well, that just means that this weeks in gonna be that much better! Well Mum, I love you and love your letters and your e-mails. I'll talk to you next week. Love you loads.
Elder Rowley

Things I love

I'm glad Kyle got the letter and I was afraid that sending back that dot game would cause a problem but looks like you handled it well. There is no way we will finish while I'm out here but we can always finish when I get home. Oh and about that letter than I sent Kenzie, turns out as soon as I got back to the flat I found a letter from Kenzie! It must not have been coincidence that I decided to write her! Haha. This week I am going to write to Karolyn and kids so I'll need you to send that to them for me. Sounds like school is back in full swing, that's good you've got some breaks though. And Shae is actually married! That's so weird but he seems like a really great guy. I'm sure they will be happy, but I would be happy if she would e-mail me every now and then. Even though I didn't e-mail her her whole mission.... I was thinking about Duchesne a lot this last week. I think that is one of the big things I miss about home. Oh well, there will be plenty of time to spend there when I get home! I'm trying to think of some story I can tell you about this week but I've been so busy that I haven't had time to stop and think and unfortunately I'm behind in my journal! I have a good memory so I can still write good things from a week back but I want to get completely caught up so that is one of my goals this week. I got a letter from Jon and Jeff this week and they really brightened up my day. Jon's letter was really inspirational and it made me feel like Alma 17:2. He told me to never change and that I'd better plan on a couple of months in the mountains together when I get home. It made me really happy. Well there has been a lot of opposition these last couple of weeks, not just in Newcastle, the whole zone. It's a bit frustrating but at the same time it makes me excited for things to come. And with so much opposition we surely must be on to something good. I'll have to thank you Dad I think I inherited your name gene. I sat in church yesterday and went around the whole chapel and could name everyone there. I think that building ward relationships are one of the most important things missionaries can do, especially in Newcastle. Well I better crack on with e-mails but I've been working on my Geordie accent and we'll see how it is by Christmas. I love you Dad and I'll talk to you next week. (p.s. What's going on with the Deer hunt this year)
Elder Rowley


Hiya mum,
This week has been a struggle but a good one. Our teaching pool is small but has some real potential. My companion is amazing and I'm fantastic. There is just something about a mission that makes you smile. I guess one story from this week I could tell you about is a woman named Shirley. During conference the other missionaries went knocking by the church and found this older woman named Shirley. She was really nervous about meeting with us so instead of going straight into a letter we just started talking to her. At first we were afraid that she would just talk about weird things she had heard about the church but as she realised that we actually cared about her and felt the Spirit she began to open up. She really misses her husband and is afraid that if she came to church and joined that she would get to heaven and her husband would say, "Shirley, you're a Mormon and I'm a Catholic" But there is a member of the ward who joined after her husband had died so we're going to introduce her. I've been really focusing on listening to people instead of just talking. I feel like I am a good listener when I'm just observing but when I am actually talking with someone I have a harder time. It's exciting to grow and know that the Lord is making me who I need to be. There was also a lad we met on the street who said he hated God and everything but as we started talking to him more and he began to trust us he said that his life has gone to pot and that he was thinking about going back to church and stuff. It is just amazing to see what the spirit can do for people. I'm so happy for Talisa! She is going to be an amazing missionary! What language does she have to learn? That's so exciting! Yep the weather is changing here as well. It is very different from back home but I really like it. One thing that we had the other day that we never have in Utah is fog! I love the fog so much. I'm gonna focus on finding things to love in England instead of things that I might miss from America! Well I better crack on! Love you loads!

Elder Rowley

Newcastle is going great! As far as miracles go there are far too many to write about and my mind has been really strayed these last couple days with conference and such but I will let you know. That is so great about Andy! I keep looking at that picture and smiling, I know he is doing great. How about my other missionary friends? Any news? Keep me up to date. My new companion is Jared Paul Wheeler from Bountiful Utah and he has been on his mission for about 8 months. He is great and I am learning a lot about how things work more in a mission. He is surprised at the area and wants to improve it so it will be great to work hard with him to make the area amazing. I dunno how much longer I'll stay here so we'll have to work as hard as we can for the next 6 weeks. Yes there are still four in our flat, the other missionary is Elder Ryan Best from St. George Utah. He is great and about 7ft tall. Its great to have everyone in the flat get along now and the work is going to explode in Newcastle. Its funny because Elder Christensen (the other Zone leader) trained Elder Wheeler! I send a little more information about Elder Black to dad so hopefully he can find them if he doesn't call you soon. He has our home phone number so hopefully he just calls soon. Our investigators are doing great but there are not enough! We are going to work really hard and focus on finding new investigators, sorry I'm not going into much detail but I'm just excited to find and work with a lot more people. Its really amazing to work around other missionaries and I'm becoming the kind of missionary I want to be so its great!

Oh, I was gonna tell you about Sam. She is so great and is already working on going to the temple this week. She reads church material all the time and asked me for a copy of preach my gospel yesterday! Its amazing and its made me realise that baptism isn't the last step, its really the first. I'm glad I realised this now because I'm going to teach it to people and help them realise that it is more than just a dunk in the water. It is the beginning of a lifetime of happiness. Lets hope it all works out in the end! I'm glad to hear about your pumpkins as well, how are the cats doing? I flip through my pictures and every time I get to the one of Capone it makes me smile (even though she looks so unhappy in the picture) try and see if you can send a happier one of her and Mogli as well. Well mum I've got to go, we are gonna play some football today!!!! And I might need some money out of my account for driving lessons so I can drive, I don't want to get too rusty and I might as well learn now, it will be a valuable asset in the future. Well mom I love you more than you could ever know and I'm excited to work my butt off for the next 21 months and then finally rest for a bit when I get home. I'm working on my accent as well and learning new words in all languages. Its a very exciting time to be a missionary!! Love you loads


I'm still amazed that it is already October and that conference has already come and gone. It was amazing to be able to watch it out here but it felt so different. This may sound a bit bad but the General Authorities looked really different and sounded different to me this year, it was like they weren't just talking about something unreal and unattainable. I really felt like we were equals though and worry and praying for the same things. I guess I shouldn't say equals but one in purpose, it was a pretty amazing feeling. But we are blessed to be able to watch 2 of the sessions live but it is at 5 o'clock at night and we don't get to watch the last session so we'll have to wait for the ensign. Do you think that is why President Monson usually speaks last in the Sunday Morning session? With conference and stuff it really makes me realise how short a mission is. Elder Holland always says that he loved his mission more than anyone every has since and ever will but I'm looking to give him a run for his money. It's funny to look at things from an eternal perspective and it makes everything have much more meaning and more exciting. Every day is a step closer to getting back to God and being more like him, its an exciting thing to think about. It reminds me of what you always used to tell us about taking tests, just take it one question at a time. It's like that with life! This month we are going to work really hard and I know that we will see miracles from it, and the exciting part is we may not even know what we'll get! Oh ya I haven't told you much about Elder Wheeler. He is from Bountiful and is from a family of 9. He doesn't talk much but we get along really well and both of us are frustrated with the way the work has been going in Newcastle as of late. Its great to have someone who is excited about the work and is willing to work through to the end. Interviews are tomorrow and I have a lot of questions for President Lindley. I'm taking your advice and trying to get really close to him and it is a great blessing. Its like I have another set of parents out here! I'd never thought of it like that before and it is really different than from my relationship with you but I'm sure you know what I mean. I gave Elder Black your phone number so hopefully he will call you soon. His dad's name is Paul Black and his name is Leland Paul Black and they live in Taylorsville. I hope that helps but that is all I can do for you, sorry hope you can get a hold of him soon. Our transportation is all walking and public transportation but the zone leaders have a car so we usually bum rides off them. Well I've got to get back to e-mailing.

Love you much dad. Talk to you next week!
Elder Rowley

Mum it was a miracle. We had 3 baptisms these last two weeks! I gave dad most of the details so you'll have to steal them off of him but it was so exciting. A funny thing happened though, Elder Thorup and Elder Burnham ( the original missionary who taught the family) were baptising the kids and I had to go turn on a little movie segment that we watch in between. The only problem was that in was playing in ASL, well in England they have a whole different sign language and it woudln't get off of it. So i just left in and the whole thing played with a man signing everything it was pretty funny. But I'm getting a new companion, his name is Elder Wheeler and he has been out about 8 months now. I'm really excited but nervous as well so pray for us. I'm excited for a lot of work to happen in Newcastle and I might leave next transfer so I'm gonna hit it hard for 6 weeks. It will be strange having to call the shots and take over an area but I'm really excited. I've decided to memorise a scripture from the Book of Mormon each day from a different book each day. I thought I would test myself and try and write them for you but i will take too much time. Its been good though and I am working on a lot of personal goals. Its exciting to be a missionary! I'm so excited for Talisa and Matthew as well. What great missionaries we will have! Haha, it made me so happy to hear. Also, i'm really excited for Shae to get married soon but you keep an eye on her for me. Well I got to go, sorry this is so short. Talk to you soon.
Love you loads,

Well you guessed it Dad, I'm staying in Newcastle. But Elder Thorup is moving to Billingham to be with Elder Wadsworth who came out with me. My new companion is Elder Wheeler who was trained by Elder Christensen who is one of the Zone Leaders who lives with us. It's pretty exciting to be taking over an area and we'll see how I do, I will need lots of prayers. Elder Black has said that Elder Wheeler is the kind of person that I will need to take the lead a lot of the time which both excites me and frightens me. I'm not very good at that but I have a real desire to and I think that is part of what I need to learn on my mission. We also had another miracle these last two weeks. Sam Bass was baptised on the 16th of September and she is so amazing, she has adjusted to the ward so well. Yesterday she told us she doesn't need the missionaries anymore! What a dream come true! I can see her going really far in the church. The other baptisms were Lez and Jade Smith, Lez is 13 and Jade is 10. Their mum was baptised about a year ago and she drags all four of her children to church every week even though her husband doesn't believe any of it. Her husband Andy is so great though, he really cares about his kids and is a great man. He called us one day and told us it was about time his kids got 'dunked'. So they were baptised on Friday by Elder Burnham who was the Elder who baptised their mum. How amazing would that be to be able to come back to a zone and baptised the rest of the family you taught. He was so happy. I'm trying to think if anything else exciting has happened lately but can I just say I am ready for this new transfer to begin. The last two weeks have been good because we have baptised but the other work is going so slow and there is very little motivation in the zone. Hopefully these changes are going to pump up the zone and our area. I'm really excited to work with Elder Wheeler and to see another perspective on missionary work. Keep an eye on everyone for me and keep sending photos, (i'll send all mine home with elder Black so don't worry) I'm still very sad about Brother Oldroyd but I know that he will see his family again and he was really a great man.
Love you,
Elder Rowley

Baptism was great!

Thank you so much mom for all the info but we are in Alnwick and have 2 minutes to write you. Baptism was great, we scheduled an Indian family of 5 for baptism last week and there is a part member family whose dad said the two oldest ones can be baptised so there is another baptism this week! I really have no time but I love you so much and thank you for all that you do. Hopefully i will have more time next week or send some journal pages. love you bye.

Love you, i have 30 seconds left on the computer. Will send pictures soon. Baptism was great and there will be more soon. I feel like a successful missionary sometime. Love you bye

Captain George is great!

Thanks for all the information about home. I don't know if it means I'm a bad missionary but I do like to hear it all. I'm so sad about Shanae and Aaron but I know that they will have the Faith to pull through. I'm glad the letters are getting through and being well read. I feel bad that I don't write more but I like to write a lot when I do write, Lindsay expects one today so maybe I'll send her one and then put some pictures in an envelope to send home. We have stake conference next week which is gonna be a pain to get people to church because it is clear down in Sunderland so we'll see how it goes. Oh and for Talisa.........hm.....Oregon. I divn't na but that is my only guess. Well this week has been a quick one, I'm trying to work real hard but sometimes it feels like there are so many things pulling down but something happened this week for me. I'm beginning to feel that my efforts are worth something, I dunno what changed but now it feels like every time I knock on a door I am bringing someone closer Christ and being a better missionary. Sometimes I just wanna run down a street to get all the doors and talk to everyone on the street, even when we are going to appointments. Well I told Dad about our work with investigators but I feel like I should tell you about what has happened with less actives in the ward recently. We were walking down a street to a less actives house who we'd tried to meet with a couple times before and there was a van in front. We look in and say some friends from another church, (by the way they are all Africans) and I called him by named and shook his hand. His eyes got all big and he said, "You remembered my name!" It was funny because it has been a month or so, I guess I can thank dad for me being able to remember! But I asked them what they were up to and they said their friends were inside the house but I had already thought this Less-active (named Daniel) was going to another church so I thought they were leaving for church and picking him up. Well we figured we'd just go by later and went to go see some people in the area. We came back like 20 minutes ago and went to go see Daniel. He was really excited to see us and started talking about people in the ward that he remembered. Turns out he has been a member for a long time and was working on his temple marriage when he stopped coming! But then he told us that just before some people from another church had come and they had had a discussion about the bible. Daniel had "confessed" about the true church and that he knew The Book of Mormon was true and he kinda got in an argument about it all. Then we came and invited him back to church! What a miracle that he felt like he should stand up for what he believed and then we come in and confirm everything that he already knew! It was amazing. Then we invited a less active from Jamaica back to church, she had been going to the 7th day adventist church but we showed her the restoration DVD, addressed her concerns and she said she would come to church! Also there is a man from Nigeria named Frank. Now he has been a member since 1997 and at church I sat next to him. The Bishop announced a temple trip and frank turns to me and says, how do I get a temple recommend. I started talking to him about it and turns out he has never been to the temple! I got him an interview with the bishop and the bishop said that if he comes to church every week until the trip that he can have his recommend. You should have seen how excited I got and how excited Frank was! It was a miracle. This ward has gotten a lot closer to us because on Saturday we had a variety show and the missionaries did a funny skit. this ward has a lot of talent by the way, everyone can sing sooo good but no one sings at sacrament! But anyway we had the activity and did some funny thing and the next day it was just like our ward at home. They talked to us more and the investigators more and have even started approaching us about service and tea appointments. It has been a miraculous week. Well I need to go know, P-day is a wasting. but I love you so much mum and I will talk to you next week. Love you loads.

Captain George is great. We gave him a Polski Book of Mormon and he said he would read it (lets hope he does) and to come back in two weeks to play more chess. He is really funny. This week has been really good for our main two investigators Sam and Lee. Sam is going to be baptised on the 16th (this Thursday) and teaches me in lessons instead of the other way around. We hardly have to teach her anything because she reads the Gospel Principles manual and the Book of Mormon a lot. I still can't believe it all started with the movie Charlie...... But she is great and will be baptised this week! Then there is Lee who is like a Chinese sponge, everything we teach him he retains and tells us back. We took a member with us last time and he couldn't believe how much he remembered. But last time the Spirit really kicked in and we addressed one of Lee's biggest concerns, feeling an answer. He knows he feels the Spirit when he prays and reads and when we are with him but he did not understand that was his answer, even though we had explained it more than once. But the Spirit directed and he finally understood that those feelings and his faith will grow as he prays and repents. It was an amazing lesson. So hopefully those two will be baptised this month and we will continue to work hard. I still wish we could work harder, I read stories of missionaries that completely change areas through their faith and I want to make that kind of a difference here. I feel like I need to work on being Spiritually Independent, I usually rely on other people but I know that if I work hard enough and have enough faith on my own that miracles will happen around me. I guess you could say they already have, Sam will be the first person baptised in Newcastle since March. Lets just pray that it does. Well I better write Mum, I can't think of anything else too exciting that happened this week. Thanks for the pictures and I will print some off to send home today, including a picture of my ankle for the first week of the mission. It feels so long ago! Well love you loads.

Elder Rowley

Happier and happier

Sorry I have very little time. You'll have to look at Mom's for the more spiritual stuff but I wanted to tell you about Captain George! We were knocking by our house and found an old man named George from Poland. He invited us in and insisted that before we prayed he told us some jokes! It was pretty funny but he let us pray with him and then we played chess. He is the funniest old man in the world and reminds me a lot of Jon's Grandpa. Every time I would start laughing he would look at me and say, "What the heck are you laughing at" He can't come to church because he is 88 but we gave him a Polish Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. He was really really funny, I will send some pictures sometime and I think I'm gonna fill up my memory card and then send it home with Elder Black to give to you. Thanks so much but I really gotta run!
Zi-Jen (Chinese)
Elder Rowley

Mum,
Don't have much time to write because he are going to a castle in North Shields today but its so great to hear about everyone's mission calls. Garen and James and Dad said Doug too! I'm so excited for all of them. But just real quick I will tell you a little bit more about Sam. She is going to be baptised on the 16th of September and is very very excited. She is the most prepared person I have ever met and just eats up everything we tell her at church. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and she was already living most of it except tea but when we told her about it she kinda of got a funny look on her face. She said, "tea?" and the way she said it I knew she would give it up and she did and guess what?! That week she lost 6 lbs in weight! She keeps texting us saying, "I'm feeling happier and happier and I know its because I'm living God's commandments" It is so great to find someone so prepared but it feels like we haven't even had to do anything because she reads so much, she wants to finish the Book of Mormon by the 20th! Another person we are working with is named Lee and he is from China. He remembers everything we teach him and it makes total sense to him. The only thing is that he has a problem feeling the Spirit, I know as soon as he does he will be ready to be baptised but I guess it is in the Lord's hand. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and we asked him to try it for 2 weeks but he said that wasn't long enough. He wanted to try it for 2 months! What a miracle, well gotta go.
Toe-pah-ze-nya (Polish/Czech)
Elder Rowley

Hello Captain!

Sounds like things are going great at home! I'm sorry to hear about Coach Cardoso's wife, that's truly a tragedy. But this has been a good week. Still a lot of opposition but it has been amazing all the same. We are teaching a woman named Sam and she is just amazing. When we found her she just said she was looking into Christianity recently and we thought, great! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she just devours it. She is almost done with 2 Nephi! She accepts everything we teach and even though she was really nervous she came to a baptism. She said that as soon as she got into the building she was at total peace, she loves church and said that this is where she thinks she belongs! Its so exciting. The craziest thing is that last time we went to her house she was watching Charlie, now I thought she had looked it up as a Mormon movie after we started teaching her but she said no. The movie was what got her started thinking about Christianity in the first place! She didn't even know it was a Mormon movie. We told her that God is a God of miracles and that there are no coincidences and yesterday we got a text from her saying, "I've decided to stop drinking tea and went out to buy some fruit teas instead" What a miracle! Another thing that happened this last week is I am beginning to fall in love with reading the scriptures. I used to hate it and up until now I just felt overwhelmed by what I needed to do. But this last week everything has exploded and I can't get enough. I wish we had more than just an hour in the morning! Its been amazing and I've noticed that I learn and remember more of what I've read. What a blessing! Well I've got to get on, we still have a full days work left for us. But mom I love you so much and am so greatful for everything you do for me. Keep the post coming and I'll send more pictures next week. Love you loads.
Elder Rowley

Sounds like everything is as crazy and normal as it always was. Thanks for the pictures, its funny I still have both of those pictures on my camera except I'm in them. We are even standing in the same places (grandma and grandpa sure do love parking in front of the fire hydrant). Well this last week has been a long, tough, and good one. I'm started to actually feel like we are working and it makes me feel great! This last Tuesday and Wednesday all the leaders in the mission went down to Leeds for leadership training so I got to spend 2 days with Elder Pass! He is from California and has been out one transfer longer than me but when you serve with him it feels like he's been here a lot longer! He is amazing and truly talks to everyone, it was the most fun I've ever had on my mission. He gets so excited to talk to anyone and we even yell to people from across the street. It makes me smile to just think about it, he likes to greet people by saying, "hello Captain, how are you?" Its so funny and there was even one man who responded, "Not to bad, how about you soldier". When you approach people with that much enthusiasm and love they respond similarly and their hearts are opened. Working with other Elders gives me such a great idea of the missionary that I want to be, its all because one of the letters you wrote to me about asking myself, "what can i learn". Well there was a miracle on Tuesday as I worked with Elder Pass, apart from finding 8 new investigators we had decided to knock a street. Now I had prayed about a street to go to and when we arrived we had half an hour. The funny thing was that there were only 6 houses on the whole street, oops. Me and Elder Pass looked at each other and said that it had been prayed about and that there was someone in one of these houses who needed to hear the Gospel. We knocked on the first 4 and nothing. We came to the 5th door and someone opened and we were sure it was the one but nothing. We came to the last door and this woman named Amy opened up. As soon as she opened the door we felt the Spirit, it was the strongest I've felt the Spirit at someone's doorstep! We started talking to her and she didn't seem very interested because she was already a very spiritual person but she accepted a pamphlet and as Elder Pass was writing our information on it I told her about eternal marriage. Her face changed a little and she started asking us questions about our religion, not specifically temple marriage but just general questions. One of her questions was, "Can you see the fruits of this work?" She specifically wanted to know if we had witnessed healings or anything like that. I took the opportunity to share with her your experience and bore testimony that I had definitely seen fruits. After this she asked if she could have a copy of the Book of Mormon and of course we agreed. We then asked if we could pray with her and she asked if she could say it. Wow, someone taught her to pray! It was powerful and even though she has moved and we won't be able to teach her I know that the reason we needed to be on that street was so she could have a copy of the Book of Mormon. It was quite a miracle. So today I'm on exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Black, who goes home at the end of the transfer. He's from Salt Lake, wanna go to his homecoming? I've lived with him my whole mission so far and we've gotten pretty close. Not sure exactly when it will be but I thought I'd bring it up to see if you wanted to go. Good luck with the truck, I really wish I could come home just to try and fix it. Maybe I'll ask President. ;) I'm trying to get to know President Lindley more like you advised me to and I know that we will be close, I've heard that the President always likes his first transfer best! Haha, well its time to get to work. Thanks for everything. I know I say this every week but I especially love all the pictures.
Love you loads,

Elder Rowley

Dear Meridith

Meridith is a sister in our ward who writes to each of the missionaries every week. She was so excited to get a letter back from Zack this past week:

Dear Meridith,

Thank you so much for all the letters! It's so great to hear how things are back in the states. I especially liked your two letters about the 4th of July, and when your sister came to town. I've never met or seen her before but if she's anything like you I'm sure she is a lot of fun. I don't think I'd be able to keep up with both of you! It must be loads of fun to have a twin. The 4th of July sounds like it must have been fun as well. We didn't do much for it but the cooks of the MTC made us a big barbeque, I ate so much. I will probably be quite fat when I get home but let's hope not. Luke is coming home soon so you'll see what a mission can do to a boy. Right now I"m on a train going to an old city with a castle! My camera battery is dead but I'll find a way to get some pictures and send them home. You'll have to ask my parents to show you. This train ride is so pretty, England is so beautiful. No mountains though, I think I miss that the most. Well hold down the fort for me and keep an eye on my family. I'm sure I'll hear from you soon. Thanks. --Elder Zack Rowley