Classic Zack

Date: Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 1:47 PM
Subject: Re: Happy 4th of July!


Well today was the last day at the MTC. We leave tomorrow morning and they dunno when P-day so they let us e-mail tonight. Oh and my ankle might be broken so........ goodbye!

Dear Family,

Dear Family,

Well I figured I might as well try and write at least once before I leave the MTC. Even though I'll probably be gone by the time this letter gets here. Thanks for all the letter, it has been great to hear from everyone. It's funny, I usually get a letter every day and I'm the last one to know. Everybody rushes to check the mail before lunch and they're all upset that I have one. It's funny cause I could go either way but it upsets everyone else. So keep 'em coming. I'm not really sure what all to write because I'll answer all your e-mails once a week. Oh well I'll figure something out. The MTC is really great though., the first day super long, I think we were all awake for like 40 hours that day. There are 33 of us here and it's great. i know everyone by name and friends come easy and friends come quick. I already told you about my companion Elder Gardner and we live with our district leader Elder Horner and his companion Elder Erickson. We are in the Helaman district and our teachers are Brother Loynes from Wales and Brother Goble from Liverpool I think. It's funny because most of the teachers went on missions to the British Isles and they are all from here. The other weird thing is that everyone in the MTC is American. I hope it’s not like that in the field. Classes are amazing and everything you could ask for. The teachers are funny, they tease us about being American, we tease them on being British, and best of all the Spirit is always here. The first couple of lessons we had talked all about the work in England, especially how a ‘Second Harvest’ has been prophesied and yet to come. Brother Loynes tells us that we have the authority and prophecy that we can baptize millions. That’s written in our district room. I believe we can do it. It will take a lot of prayers though : ). We went on a ‘finding’ activity last Friday which meant they took us street contacting in Manchester. Brother Loynes had told us there were no morals left in Britain and the people can tell and they are looking for something to fix it. Boy is that apparent when you hit the streets. Everybody smokes. There were probably only 3 people we saw who weren’t. When we asked some peole what they believed in they said drinking and smoking. It’s hard to watch. Edler Gardner and I fasted and prayed the day before if we would be led to people who were prepared to be taught and we did. We talked to maybe 10 pople that day and gave everyone some sort of church literature, whether it was a pamphlet or a Book of Mormon. We got the numbers of 2 people and left a good impression on everyone we met. It was really hard at first, but it got easier after the first one. Th way they teach us to talk to people reminds me about that ‘Robots’ movie, “See a need, fill a need.” All we’re doing is finding out what’s wrong with people and then helping them out. It’s amazing what people will tell you about themselves right there on a street corner. I think it’s because they’re too surprised and taken aback to come up with a lie, so they just tell the truth. The biggest problem we had that day was switching to teaching them something. As soon as they stopped talking about themselves they stopped listening. It got better since then, but it is still a hard thing to do. Well now I know why all Luke took pictures of was the food. It’s the only time we’re allowed to use our cameras! Oh, and it’s really good. No news on any weight gain, I gain and drop at least 2 lbs. before and after every meeting. You should see Sister Clegg’s face when I tell her I’ve dropped 2 lbs. during personal study. I told her “Bet you didn’t think I was that good at studying.” Well every day I feel more and more like I’ve got a special work to do out here. I don’t have enough paper to tell you all about it, but when I get home I’ll have figured it all out and tell you then. No sign of Luke yet but word on the street says I’ll be knocking doors with hin on Friday. But once again I’m the last to know. Oh well I guess I’ll find out soon enough. Today we went on the church history tour, it was cool. The farms out here are amazing, I took lots of pictures but don’t know how/if I’ll send them today. It’s about time to go get a haircut (even though I don’t need it) and then e-mail. We might even get to play some futball!! Well, keep an eye on all the animals for me, especially Lindsay and Kyle. Well God lives and watches us and will do whatever we ask as long as it's His will. We've pretty much got it made! Love you all. --Elder Rowley
p.s.
Mom- Swans come very winter to the MTC pond
Dad- Did you know every swan in England is property of the queen?

Word two

date: Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 7:59 AM
subject Re: Happy 4th of July!


I haven't got much time today but I sent a letter with lots of juicy details. I dunno about the whole mass e-mail thing, I usually just answer anybody who asks me a question in an e-mail, not really like a week-long report. So its up to you, do whatever you'd like. Have not seen anyone I know yet and I kinda forgot about hacky sack, but I play it in my room when I remember and we play futball almost everyday. Its really funny to watch people who have never played before against people who play really well against people who are just messing around. ;) I addressed a bunch of the stuff you asked in my letter so I'll let that take care of that. Today we went on the church history tour, it was way cool and I took a lot of pictures (still haven't figured out a way to send those...). We went to the River Ribble and the tram bridge that goes across it. Its kinda funny cause everyone else takes pictures of landmarks and stuff and I take pictures of funny things I see on the ground and such. Its just kinda funny. There was also a park next to the river that was were loads of people came when they heard something about a baptism. There were like 9000 people there. It was cool to imagine. Then we went to President Hinkley's flat which was really really cool to see. It was funny though because so many people were trying to copy the picture we have of him in front of it that I got sick of waiting and took a picture of me in front of the flat next to his! I got a lot of funny pictures. Then we went to Downham which was really cool. Everybody went to the post office and stuff but me and my companion just started walking and found a public path that went through huge fields of sheep. It was really cool and nobody else was there. Well gotta go, love you!

First word

Date: Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 8:18 AM

To me:

Hey mom, to answer your questions life is good, the flight was long and cool, my companion's name is Elder Gardner from Loveland, Colorado. And the MTC is amazing. There's 33 of us right now. 17 Elders are going to Scotland, 6 of us are going to Leeds and the others are going to Manchester. We also have 3 sister missionaries and a senior couple here. The senior couple is Elder and Sister Dracocardos and they are serving in the Athens, Greece mission which is where Elder Dracocardos is from. The best part about it here is that you want to listen to everyone just to heard all the cool words they say. We have a lot of class time so it can get a little difficult paying attention sometimes but with all our teachers being from different places in England it always keeps it interesting. The food is amazing, its real food and they serve a salad with every meal. Last night I had my first fish and chips and it was good. They were real chips too. Me and Elder Gardner live in a room with 2 other Elders, Elder Erickson from Declo, Idaho and Elder Horner from Kansas City, Missouri. Its funny even how many different American accents we get out here. We're in the Helaman district and Elder Horner is the district leader. Today we went to the temple, it was way cool. I love hearing all the different people talk inside and the celestial room is bigger than Provo's, it was kinda cool. We just got done playing futball and we have until 5 for p-day so I think I'll take a nap and maybe write some letters.

Adios!

To Shane:

Ya I told President Clegg we were related and he sounded pretty excited, turns out there is another Elder here who is too. Ya the MTC is great, like I told mom my companion is Elder Gardner from Loveland, Colorado and boy does he know how to work. He's got a lot of expectations for his mission so for the past 3 months he's been studying 5 hours a day. And now that he's here he just wants to take off in the work. Its been really good trying to keep up with him and it fun to try and beat him out at somethings. We live in the same room as the District Leader, Elder Horner from Kansas City, Missouri so he has to make sure the district is up by 6:30 so me and Elder Gardner wake up at 6:15 and are the first ones to the shower and stuff. then we try to be at personal study a half hour early each day. I think it really makes a difference and it isn't difficult at all, we do a lot of little things like that to get a little more work it. We teach a lot of practice lessons and all the teachers here are amazing, they do examples of what we're supposed to do and they are so good. I guess I have the example to follow. Well no sign of Luke yet but i haven't read his e-mail so he may know more about it. But on sunday i was walking around and a sister stopped me and said she'd just talked to my brother. Turns out that they had stake conference on sunday at the stake center on the temple grounds. Funny huh. Well i just have a few questions, my district leader's companion is Elder Erickson from Declo, Idaho and I knew that I know someone from there, got any ideas? Also there is an Elder Reynolds here who says he's from Roosevelt. I asked him if he knew any of the Rowley out there but didn't know who he knew. He didn't know Teresa either! Well gotta go.