Too many miracles to tell

Mum,
This week has been crazy and exciting and miraculous as ever! We keep having little miracles that bring people closer to joining the church. I can't even begin to tell you about all of them. I've never been so guided on my entire mission. Its like every door we knock on we are there at the perfect timing. Everyone we talk to wants to hear more and its really exciting. We also had 3 people at church this week! A young couple named Steven and Tiffany and a girl named Nila. Its crazy how all of them were prepared to come to church. Nila has been going to young womens for about a year but hasn't been allowed to come to church this whole time. Her parents have finally let her come to church. I'm really excited for this next week as well. Things are just going perfect here in Selby. I just hope we dont' do anything to screw it up! I'm really happy to hear about Sam. I told Grandma how appreciative I am about the whole thing. It's really exciting that she's coming to visit. There is a recent convert from Selby that we know really well who is going to America in August. Maybe as time gets closer we'll try and set something up so you can meet him! I'm glad to hear that Po'i can finally go on his mission soon. And that's pretty crazy about the whole sacrament meeting stuff. From what I hear about those African missions Tyler is gonna be in for a good time. In the Zimbabwe mission they had a goal a couple of years ago to baptise 2000 people and they made it! Its really exciting. Well I'd better get going. I'm booking my driving test right now and it'll probably be sometime in July or August. The work is going great. I'm happy as ever mum. I love you. Thanks for everything! Talk to you next week!
Elder Rowley

Dad,
Ya I don't know what happened with the last e-mail but I got it today. I can't believe all the stuff about Matt Daleabout in this area. I've been asking around and there have been a couple of families who remembered him so he is definitely not forgotten here! We haven't been able to see Kim lately though, but we will keep trying. There has to be a reason we were sent to his house even if its not for him. But this week has been a really good one. It seems like there is no end to the miracles that have been happening here. We feel very prompted to find in far off areas and we have been seeing loads of success. Even when things fall through they eventually work out for the best. We were so happy because after 2 months of nothing we finally had people at church this week. A young family came and then a girl who has been coming to young womens for a while came. Its been a really good week. I really don't know how to tell you everything amazing that has happened, there have just been too many. I guess I'll just share one miracle that happened. We walked around bit but nothing felt right so we decided to leave and try this older man we are teaching. On the way there we talked to this woman who broke out in tears when he started talking to her. She had been praying for weeks and felt like her faith was disappearing. She had woken up that day and had decided that she was going to end it all. We went to her home and taught her and she testified that she felt the spirit and knew that we had been sent from God. It was just an amazing miracle in the first place but the thing that made me so happy about it was the way it effected Elder Hilliard. I know she was sent to us as much as we were sent to her. Well that's about all I'll say for this week. Thanks for keeping me posted on everything back home. I always love reading your e-mails dad. I love you so much. Take care of yourself. Especially that shoulder!!
Elder Rowley

Breakthrough!

Mum,
Now that I know Matt served here I'll be sure to ask around to see who remembers him. Crazy crazy. It's a small world after all. Hopefully we'll be able to see Kim again. I can see why Selby would be difficult to leave. This ward is so big and there are so many families it is easy to become a part of the ward. This week was a really really good one for us. We have been struggling to find people to teach and our teaching pool was pretty much zero but the Lord just sent more and more people for us to teach! We are really humbled at how things have been turning around so quickly here in Selby. I'm really excited for what the future holds here. This ward is amazing as well. We sat in church on Sunday and during Priesthood opening exercises the WML stood up and told everyone in the ward that we were really hard working missionaries and that he knew things would turn around here. Then in Priesthood we talked about missionary work and every single person was involved in the lesson. They all shared experiences that they had to share the Gospel with people and we talked about the fears that we all have about it. I know that things are going to turn around here and I'm loving it here. I'm finally getting used to riding a bike as well!! Well I didn't have much time to write again. We're going to York again because we are going on exchange. Good P-day news though! President Lindley wants us to have as fun of p-days as possible so he has approved even more movies that we can watch. Today we're watching my favourite, Hook! Love you mum. Take care!
Elder Rowley


Dad,
This week has been really good. We lost our good Filipino friend Berna and to be honest I was getting a little down in the dumps. It's funny though because whenever I feel like that I know it means we're close to a breakthrough. So I just try and endure and keep working hard and then it happens, the breakthrough! That was Saturday. We found three new investigators! An African girl whom we are going to teach her family and then a couple that live here in Selby. One is English and her husband is from Greece. They accepted and were really interested in everything we taught them. It was such an amazing blessing. Nobody came to church though which was a dissappointment but nobody has been for over a month so the ward was alright with it. I'm amazed at this ward though, they are getting such a sense of urgency about the work. Its hard to explain but there is such a powerful Spirit of missionary work here and I know its gonna take us far. I'm really excited. Keep in touch with Matt Daleabout and we'll see Kim again this week, (or we'll try). He said that he got really close to those missionaries, close enough that he remembered all their names! Just let Matt know he definitely was an influence of Kim and though he hasn't joined the church he still reads the Book of Mormon sometimes. I just wanted to share one thing with you before I have to go Dad. This morning we watched the DVD of President Hinckley's life and last week we watched The Errand of the Lord (that's President Monson's biography) and they were both so powerful. The two main things I think that their lives had in common the most were a love for hard work and a love for the Lord. When I watched the movies I felt the same way that they felt about things. It's like I have this burning desire in my heart to work out my days on earth for the Lord. I read a quote by Spencer W. Kimball the other day that said, "My life is like my shoes, worn out by service." I just wanted to thank you for teaching me to work hard dad. I love you. Have a good week.
Elder Rowley

Small, small world

Mum.
Wow. Kyle is finally a deacon?! Crazy. I was showing a recent convert all of my pictures last night and I remembered again that Kyle got ordained a deacon. Weird. I remember what that was like. Especially because I passed the sacrament last week! Haha. I'm glad to hear that he's doing good and that he had a good birthday. Selby is crazy amazing. The ward is one of the biggest and strongest of my mission which is great. For such a little area you wouldn't think there would be so many active members but it really is the biggest ward I've served in. There is loads of diversity in the ward as far as age goes. There are loads of little kids but still a lot of old people. It makes it really fun. There is also a Brazilian family (I still get to learn Portuguese!) and our High Councilor served his mission in Brasil and is an American. So I already feel like I'm home. I just thought I'd share a crazy experience we had last week. We were knocking and we both felt like we'd been guided to this specific street and we saw this man in is back garden (that's what they call yards here). We got his attention and he came over to talk to us. When we said we were from church he threw up his hands and said, "Nope I'm Jewish". I've always been fascinated by Jews so I stuck my hand out for him to shake it and we started talking about all sorts. We were having a good little chat with him when it started to rain. He offered us a drink and to come inside so we agreed. So when we went into his house to find that his wife was a Filipina! We had some recent converts in Leeds 4 who were Filipinas and they taught we some Tagalog so I started talking to her in her language. She got a huge grin on her face and welcomed us into her house. We talked to her and found out that she couldn't find a Roman Catholic Church in Selby so she hadn't come to church in 10 years! She asked if she could come to ours and of course we said yes. We taught her a second time and she is amazed by the Restoration. She said that in all her years of church she had never read from the scriptures or learned about them. She then committed to be baptised!! We haven't set a date yet and some things came up so she couldn't come to church but it was amazing! Her name is Berna and she is so nice! She calls us 'kids' when we go to teach her! The other crazy thing is that it turns out a member cleans their chimney and they know him really well. He had shared parts of the gospel with them and sown seeds. It was so amazing to see the work that the ward has done and how the Lord sent us to the people that the Lord had prepared! It was crazy! But I'm gonna have to get going. I love you so much mum. Give Lindsay a hug for me for her birthday and tell her friends I say hi. Take care!
Elder Rowley

Dad,
That picture is almost our flat. If you look on the right side of the picture you will see an apartment complex and that's where we live. Elder Hilliard is originally from California but had lived in Springville, Utah for the last 5 or so years. We were swapping stories and he was telling me about someone he worked with who eventually got baptised. As we talked more I realise that I knew that kid and went to high school with him. Its Steve Vistaunet's niece's boyfriend/fiance I think. Steve's niece Alex is/was dating a guy named Lynn Wyberg who got baptised just before December. Turns out Elder Hilliard worked with Josh Reid as well! And do you remember Andrew Apgood from band? He worked with him as well. Small small world. So ya, that's Elder Hilliard for you. If you wanted to look his parents up I know his mom's name is Gaye. Sounds like there really is never a dull moment back home. I'm glad to here that things are going great. Especially with all the birthdays and such coming up this week. Be sure to wish Lindsay a happy birthday for me! This week has been a big improvement from last week. We're really rebuilding this area from nothing and it is amazing how much the Lord is helping us out. I already told mum about an experience where a member was working with someone to prepare them for the gospel and then how the Lord sent us to their street to teach them. She is an amazing Filipino lady named Berna and I'm really excited for her. We've been riding the bikes a lot of visiting less-actives a lot as well. There have been two times where me and Elder Hilliard have been prompted to go to a street and have found less-actives that needed to be visited. We also had a neat experience I'll share with you. We had prayed about an area and a street to knock and when we got there we looked at each other because it didnt' feel right. So we turned around and suddenly felt like a different street was better. The very first door we knock on I say, "Hello, we're sharing the book of Mormon with everyone today" The man looks at me and smiles and says. "Where do you want me to start, with Nephi? or Moroni? Or should we just skip right to the golden plates" I look over at Elder Hilliard dumbfounded and then man just smiles at us. He investigated the church a long long time ago but never joined. He still reads the Book of Mormon and loves it like Lord of the Rings. Crazy huh? Hopefully we'll be able to see him again but he said he has a really spotty work schedule. He also mentioned that the first missionary to teach him was a Daleabout! He said that Matt Daleabout was the first person to knock on his door. All I could remember was that Billy served in Scotland. I don't remember Matt though. Is he in our ward? If he served in Leeds then tell him that Kim says hi! Well I'd better take your advice and get on with our p-day. We spent this morning at Selby Abbey and it was pretty neat. We're going to go to York today though which will be loads of fun. I love you Dad. Have a good week. Talk to you next week!
Elder Rowley

Selby, Selby, Selby

Date: Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 6:32 AM

Dad,
So let me tell you about Selby. First all start with our flat. The address is 21 Abbey Wharfe, Canal Road, Selby YO8 8AG. Our flat is massive and me and Elder Hilliard have it all to ourselves. It is a lot like the area and hasn't been taken care of the way it should so we spent all morning cleaning. It was really fun. Mom would be proud! So Elder Hilliard is from Utah, originally California and has been on his mission for about 6 months. He is great, strong testimony, desire to do missionary work, and a big heart. So the area is made of of Selby itself and loads of small villages that surround it. We are on bikes which is a blessing and a curse. The weather has been amazing this last week so we both got really tan but then the bikes broke and took 2 hours to fix. Its beautiful countryside though and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures for you. Because the missionaries didn't really know what to do they just spent all their time knocking and didn't rely on the ward (I'll get to them in a minute). Knocking is probably the least effective form of missionary work and though they tried their best they only had one new investigator all of last transfer and nobody has been to church in a month. There are 3 people in our teaching pool and I've only met one of them so far. The saving grace to this area is the ward. Dad they are the best ward I have ever met on my entire mission. They are the sole purpose this is even an area. We are doing our best to get to know them and that's what is going to turn the work around for us. Missionaries have been leaving this area after 3 months so didn't get a chance to meet the ward as well so they don't really trust us. They all do amazing missionary work though! At church we got 3 referrals and loads of less-actives to see. It is the greatest spirit I've felt at church for a long time. So right now we're in the rebuilding phase and its pretty exciting. There is a recent convert here named Mike Moore who is my hero. He's a ward missionary and already gave us 5 or 6 families to go see. When I first got called here I thought, "Man, I'm gonna have to waste 3 months of my mission there before I get called to a real area" The more I have thought and prayed about it though I feel like this is exactly where I want to be. We are really all on our own out here and it's just us and the ward. I have such a strong desire just to tear into the work here. I'm never been so excited to just work my butt off! I think I'm going to write the mission president to make sure I can stay here for a long time because I know that's what this area needs. I love it. This is still the happiest I've ever been on my mission and I'm so excited for the next few months. I'm really glad to hear that things are still going well at home and especially about Lindsay's testimony. I love you Dad. Thanks for everything.
Elder Rowley

Mum,
Selby Selby Selby. Well its been 4 days so I've already street contacted half of the town so its gonna be an excited stay. Just kidding. So yup we are on bikes because Selby is so small and there are loads of little villages around that need to gospel as well. This area has been dead for a while though. Last transfer they only found one new investigator and nobody has been to church in a month. So my work is cut out for me. Elder Hilliard is amazing. He has a lot of faith and a big heart and I'm excited to work with him. He's only been on his mission for 6 months so he didn't really know how to work this area. I don't really know how to work this area but I'm sure the Lord with help us out! The ward here is the amazing part. Fast and testimony meeting was all focused on missionary work! We talked to like 5 members about people to see (because we had 3 lessons last week) and got loads of people to visit! I'm really excited to be here and to become a part of the ward. Missionaries haven't been staying in Selby very long and it has been difficult on the ward to trust or even get to know them. I think I'll be here for a while which is fine by me. I'm to the point that I'm just doing what I'm told by the Lord. I don't have any set requirements or things that I feel I have to do on my mission for it to be a success. I feel like a complete tool.....to the Lord!! I'm really excited. Plus our flat is massive!! Well I'll try and send you some pictures, if the computer will let me. Xanda got baptised as well!!! Elder Smith has some pictures for me so that's exciting as well! I love you mum. Thanks for everything!

Elder Rowley