Miracle after miracle!

Mum,
Wow, there's a lot of good news in that e-mail. That picture of David and Mike is great and I'm so happy he got the Priesthood. Will you ask Mike if Henrique Moura got the Priesthood as well? That is so exciting! And I'm pretty sure that 70 was the one you were thinking of, that's pretty crazy. I wish I would have been able to talk to them a bit more, it would have been funny if he would have remembered that trip. I didn't know you got to go to the London Temple on your mission? That's crazy. I wish I would have asked for more stories from you and Dad when I was home. Well this week has been super crazy. We found loads of new people! It has been hard to keep up with all of them. We are starting to get all mixed up with names and everything so hopefully we don't forget about anyone! We also had a crazy amazing miracle at church yesterday. So we were leaving Sunday School (Sacrament meeting is last here) and the Bishop walked in and said that a man came in off the street named Mark who wanted to meet with missionaries! He was taught in Newcastle a few months ago but he now lives in North Shields and he is great. Just walked in to church and said that he wants to change his life! Haha, what a miracle! We are working on progressing our people right now. We have found a lot of new investigators but we'll see what happens with all of them, pray for the best! I don't think there is really anything else to report on this week. I haven't taken my driving test yet but it is scheduled for the 4th of November, wish me luck! I think that is everything, sorry its so short. Love you Mum! Bye!

Dad,
Wow what a week it sounds like you've been having back home! Sounds like quite the adventure with the deer hunt and all sorts of mishaps. I'm really glad to hear that Lindsay spent some time with Grandpa. I was talking about Grandpa's missions with Elder Woodbury and I wish I would have asked more questions and got to know them better. Oh well, there will be plenty of time for that in due time. I'm excited to hear and eventually see the changes in the back yard, that would be so nice! Our week was really really good. We found loads of new investigators and things are really picking up here. There are two experiences I'll share with you. On Tuesday we had an appointment flog (fall through) and we had about an hour until our next one. We didn't have enough time to see these other people so we were stuck finding in the area we were. I could tell Elder Woodbury didn't really want to work there because he really wanted to see the other people and to be honest I wasn't too in the mood as well. But we set out to go finding and I told Elder Woodbury that we should pray and choose where we should go. We prayed and then he looked up and half heartedly said the street we were already on. Now it has taken me a long time to learn even a little bit of how to follow the Spirit while finding and I really wanted Elder Woodbury to figure it out as well. It's something that can totally change the attitude someone has on their mission when they recognise they were where the Lord wanted them for a time. So I didn't accept that he had made the right decision and told him to think about it as we walked and to choose another street. As we walked I prayed that he would be able to find the right street and when he chose one I didn't really feel to good about it. But he seemed committed to it so I figured we'd give it our all. We knocked on the first door and I prayed that someone would let us in so Elder Woodbury would realise that he'd followed the Spirit and his prayer was answered. Nobody answered so we went to the next door. A kid named Johnny answered the door and let us in! We taught him a bit, invited him to church and then left after about 20 minutes. You should have seem Elder Woodbury's face for the rest of the day. It was the neatest experience! I was really grateful that he recognised and had his prayer answered. It was neat. I was gonna tell Mum but I totally forgot about the experience! The other one was when this man named Mark just walked into church on Sunday. It was amazing and he is really good! Miracle after miracle! Hahaa. Well that's about all for me. We have interviews with President Lindley tomorrow which is always fun. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks so much for everything Dad. I love you!
Elder Rowley

He missed it, but it was great!

Just wanted to post this photo of the baptism of one of the young men Zack had been teaching in Selby. He actually moved into Luke's mission right before Zack was transferred to North Shields. One of the young men from Selby who Zack loved to teach with was able to drive down to baptise him. What a great day!

Hoping to turn things around

Dad,
The language up here is going great! I love it so much. The other day when we got a bus a overheard two girls speaking portuguese. I made a mental note of what they look like and there is an american guy here who served in Manaus Brazil so maybe we'll see what happens next time we see them! HAha! Well that is our little flat. It's the set of flats on the right hand side and we live on the ground floor, it's pretty podunk. Our area going north up to Ashington I believe and it's just us two here. The bishop of this ward is amazing. He is so humble and knowledgeable and willing to help, he's perfect. He came with us to a couple of appointments and he really knows how the get things done. I'm confident we can make some real miracles happen here. I'm hoping we can turn things around here because the ward deserves quality missionaries and its easiest to get those when an area baptises a lot. I can't believe its deer season again. I can't wait for next fall. Things are just going by too fast! This week has been really neat, we've been finding loads of people and the work is really going to pick up even more here. I'm super excited. I love being so close to the sea and we contact people by the coast sometimes, it's really nice. Don't worry I've been taking pictures but I just haven't sent any lately! We've got a couple of really good people we are working with now and hopefully we can get a baptism next month! Well there isn't much more to report on over here. Who else has got their mission call? And is anybody else getting married? Crazy crazy. Well I love you Dad. Thanks for everything. I never realised how lucky I was to grow up the way that I did. I think it was exactly what I needed. Love you take care!
Elder Rowley


Mum,
*David got baptised!! Woo hoo! That's super exciting. I was gonna tell you that I gave him my quad but I didn't (tell you). I use that little one you bought me before I left for everything so I thought it wasn't a big deal. Oh that's super exciting. Things are going really well over here. We have been finding so many potential investigators its been crazy. I now realise the reason. Thanks for all the prayers! Hopefully we can get back to teach all of them this next week, that would be good. We had a neat experience yesterday at Stake Conference. They re-organised the stake presidency (really really young now) and Elder Causse of the area presidency came to visit. Elder Causse is French and he came with the only of French seventy. They are the first two from France, ever and this was their first assignment together. It was really neat to hear all of their experiences at the conference. We also got to hear a little story about the Paris Temple! So Elder Causse headed the team that took the appeal to the mayor of Paris to see if they would allow a temple there. He said that he had made a power point presentation about the church and why they should allow us to build a temple there. When they got to the appointment the mayor said that he wasn't going to watch the presentation because he knew that he would hear all the good things about the church and he didn't want that. The mayor brought forward two women who were on the Paris City Council. One was a Catholic and a mother of 9 and the other had a doctorate in Theology. The mayor said that they would do an investigation of the church and in one month Elder Causse would be brought back to the mayor's office. Needless to say Elder Causse was nervous over the next month. When he got back to the mayor's office a month later the women had prepared a presentation. They said that they had been to the internet (bad idea), and done their research. But then they had gone to a sacrament meeting! They also knocked on all the doors of the members in the proposed area and asked them about their neighbors. The theologist said that it was the closest church to the original church in the bible that she had ever seen. And the mother of 9 was impressed at the members. Well you know the end of the story and that's how there is a temple going to be built in Paris! I thought that was a neat experience to share. Cool huh? Well I don't have anything else to report on this week. I'm signing up for my driving test again so watch my account please. Love you so much mum. Thanks for everything!
Elder Rowley


(*David is a young man Zack was teaching in Selby with a recent convert Mike, whom I recently met. Zack was really impressed with David. Just before Zack got transferred, David moved to Lancaster, which is in Luke's mission. Over the weekend Mike (who is waiting for his own mission call) emailed me to let me know he went to Lancaster and baptised David. He also asked me to pass on David's thanks to Zack for the scriptures. We had a feeling that Zack had possibly given him his own scriptures. Turns out he had. Good thing we sent him with two sets!)

I can do the Geordie accent!

Mum,
North Shields is great. I've missed this zone and I've missed the Geordies. And guess what, I can do the accent now! It's been pretty fun, I think I'm going to talk in a Geordie accent all the time now! My companion is Elder Austin Woodbury from Kentucky. He's been out for about 7 1/2 months or something. He reminds me a lot of Steven Markham. He's great. A really good teacher and he knows the gospel really well. I think that one of the difficult things as a missionary (especially if you've been out a while) is having so many companions! Me and Elder Thimmesch were getting to the point that I knew all of his friends and family by name and then I get transfered and have to start all over again. Oh well, I've been really lucky that I've only had 3 other areas because the ward adjustment is also different. The ward here is so neat though. They are all older and only about 40 people come to church. Funny news, there are Rowleys in the ward! I haven't had too much of a chance to talk to them but I'm gonna see if I can get some family history out of dad to see where we came from and when! So things are going well here. There are a few people to teach but needless to say, there's some work to be done! But I love it here. I was wondering when *they all got home. How is Justin doing? And Daylin! That's neat-o. Glad to hear about Mike. I hope he gets his call next week as well, that would be super exciting! I told him that he should call me and gave him my new phone number. I already miss them but the day will come when I'll get to see and talk to them all again. Well I think that's all i have to report this week. i LOVE YOU MUM, TAKE CARE! (I was typing one handed just for fun and that accidentally happened with caps lock but I'll leave it for you)
Elder Rowley


Dad,
North Shields is really great. I'm so excited to be in this zone again. All the district leaders and the zone leaders are people I know really well so there is already a great unity here. We're so far away from everyone else that its easy to be unified and it makes it really fun. I realised that North Shields and Selby are the same and that's why I'm glad I got sent here. Selby turned around a lot and we were doing quite good. North Shields is exactly the kind of area I feel best in. The ward is older and there are only about 40 or 50 who come to church. There are hardly any priesthood holders and the area hasn't had much success. There are a lot of things that's we're going to have to overcome. My companion is Elder Austin Woodbury from Kentucky and he is a lot like Steven Markham. I went from having a massive district to just having one team. The missionaries are really good there are just a couple of things we have to sort out. I hope I can do everything that needs to get done. Wish us luck, I fasted for a baptism this month yesterday so that's our goal. Here's a funny story. There is a family of Rowley's in the ward! I haven't gotten to talk to them that much but they are great! That leads me to a question. Grandma Janet gave me the family history for her side back until the dawn of time but I was wondering about the Rowley side. Do you have any information about where we came from and when it was. How long has the family been in the church as well? I dunno how much of that you'll be able to figure out but I was just curious. Well that's about all I have for this week. I love you Dad. Thank you for everything. Have a good week.
Elder Rowley

Hard to say good-bye!

Mom,
I can't believe we're getting another temple in Provo!!!! Me and Elder Thimmesch guessed right on the dot where they would be. I said there would be five, 2 in the states, one in Columbia or Bolivia, one is Western Africa, and one in Paris! Elder Thimmesch guessed the one in South Africa! Conference was really really good. We got to watch most of it but it was funny to realise how far away I am from it all. We watched the second to last session with a Brazilian member on his laptop, kinda funny. Well we got transfer calls last night and you'll never guess where I'm going. Back to the Geordies! I'm going to North Shields in the Sunderland Zone! I'll be right next to Newcastle and if things work out I'll be able to visit Sam once or twice! Can you believe it! I'm still shocked. It will be another great adventure though, not sure the last time they had a baptism there. We'll see! I'm super excited though. Its gonna be really hard to leave Selby. Tonight we are going to young mens and young womens and its gonna be pretty difficult. We got teaching with 2 of the young men every week at least. We spend so much time with them all its a blast. We're going to York with Mike today so that'll be a fun way to say goodbye. Oh well, all things must come to an end. I keep thinking about how hard it was to leave Leeds 4 but how many great adventures I had in Selby. I'm convinced that is what the Lord has in store for me in North Shields! I wish I had more to report on, those seem to be the only things on my mind right now. Elder Thimmesch is getting someone named Elder Balls and he is really good. It will be a perfect follow-up train for Elder Thimmesch. Sounds like things are going really well back home. Take care of things for me. I love you so much mum.
Elder Rowley


Dad,
A new temple in Provo! Woo hoo! I'm super excited. I couldn't believe that. The satelite wasn't working for that session so I just heard about that from a couple of missionaries but wow! Me and Elder Thimmesch guessed every one of the temples right, I couldn't believe it! Conference was really good as well. Priesthood Session was my favourite as usual. We sat will all the prospective Elders of our ward and it was great. There were about 4 of them and we all looked at each other during the conference and wow they are gonna be such great missionaries. They come teaching with us almost everyday and they are great. I'm grateful that I was here to serve around and with them. They've all grown loads since I first met them as well, I'm stoked for their missions. That leads me to the unfortunate and sad news. I'm leaving Selby after 4 1/2 months here! I'm going back to the North! Its an area called North Shields and it is right next to Newcastle. That means I'll be right next to Sam and might even be able to visit her once or twice. Crazy crazy crazy!!! I'm really sad to leave Selby, it will probably be even harder than it was to leave Leeds 4 but if North Shields holds half as many good times as Selby then it'll be worth it! The more I think about it the more I can't believe that I'll be going back North. I'm really excited. Those young men I'm leaving weren't too happy. Henrique told me he'd call me every week and come visit me! Haha! Good thing for Facebook so I can actually meet up with them again someday! Elder Thimmesch is getting a missionary named Elder Balls. He is exactly like Elder Thimmesch and was just barely a Zone Leader so they are going to tear it up in Selby! That's the thing I think I'm most happy about, I know that Selby is being left in good and capable hands! Well that's about all I have to report this time around. We're getting to the trunkiest time of the year for me, Thanksgiving! Oh well, I go through last year just fine! Just stop catching all my fish! Leave them for another year so I can catch them all! Thanks for everything Dad. I got that letter you sent me this week. I was one of the best letters I've ever gotten, it was exactly what I needed, it could not have come at a more perfect time! Then I finished the Book of Mormon again this week and then General Conference. It was just the boost I needed to get things going. I don't know how much success North Shields has had of late so it's gonna be some hard work. Good thing I like work! Love you Dad, take care!
Elder Rowley

Turning to God

We got an email from a missionary mom who met Elder Rowley while touring with her recently released son, the former Elder Heinrichs. She sent us a new photo of Elder Rowley, Elder Heinrichs, and Elder Thimmesch

Mum,
Eh bad news about the driving test. I failed! I was really surprised, I thought I wouldn't have any problems. Its super strict here though and most people fail it twice before they pass. I was really worried about the money bit cause it costs 60£ to take again, plus driving lessons are really expensive. I won't be able to take it for another 6 weeks so it probably won't be in Selby. I was super bummed but oh well. I'll make sure I don't spend any money so I can get my license, sorry its so expensive. Church was great yesterday but unfortunately we're still not finding new people to teach! But we've made some plans to improve and I know we'll get there. This last week has been really different though. We've had the spirit a lot more while we were finding and its helped us a lot. I had a pretty crazy experience on Thursday though. I got to go on exchange with the Zone Leaders and another missionary who both speak Chinese and boy was it great. All day was in Chinese and I wasn't able to communicate with people very well but the Spirit was like a million times stronger! It was amazing to sit in a lesson completely in Chinese and know exactly what they were saying and what was going on. I picked up on a little bit and it kind of freaked some people out when I started teaching and was on subject. Its not as hard as it sounds, I learned a couple of words and you can read body language and guess the rest. The Spirit was so strong though! It made me really want to learn another language! Oh well, the time will come for that. It was just a cool experience. I'm so glad that things worked out with *Mike. He wasn't at church yesterday and we couldn't get a hold of him so we were wondering what was up. That's really exciting though. Glad to hear that **Sam is doing so well too. It makes it easier to keep people active in the church when I've got my mom to fellowship them! Woohoo! So I'll let you know when I make plans for my driving test again. The mission will reimburse the first $100 but that is far gone. It wont' be for another month or so though so I'll keep you posted. I think that's all I have this week. Thanks for everything mom, I love you so much. Have a good week!
Elder Rowley



Dad,
Sounds like you really did have a crazy week. I can't believe all the stuff that Mike did, we didn't see him at church and we were wondering what was up. That's Mike for you. There are 3 or 4 young men that we spend a lot of time with. I hope they all go on missions, they would be so great. They all speak other languages as well! This week not much happened here. We are still struggling to find people to teach and the whole zone is having trouble as well. I hate it when this stuff happens but we'll get out of it. I told mum a neat experience I had when I was in York this week with Chinese people and boy was it fun. We're spending so much time with people who speak entirely different languages that English isn't sounding like English anymore! I didn't pass my driving test either so looks like that will be another long and costly journey, oh well. The guy who failed me was a JW so maybe that's a good excuse to fail! Haha. Well I'm sorry I don't have much else to report. Things are kind of dead here. We're keeping in good spirits and our finding is getting much better. It's neat how when things aren't going so well you turn to God a whole lot more. It's fun that way. But every time I feel like things aren't happening and that I'm not being very successful I write home and see all the crazy things that come from our work. It's really comforting to realise how far a little effort can go! Well that's all I've got for this week. Love you Dad. Take care!
Elder Rowley
ps-I can't believe that Kingfisher just sat it your hand! Did you know they are the largest hovering bird, they are just like a massive hummingbird!

*Mike is a young man in Selby who was baptised last December. He friended me on Facebook and I met him up at Temple Square when he came to the U.S. this summer. He's a great kid, the only member in his family, and working hard to prepare for a mission. Yesterday we skyped him into our Primary for sharing time, where he told us about his conversion and talked to the kids about the blessings that come from missionary work.

**Sam is a woman Zack found and taught in his first city. She was baptised a year ago last week and is doing great. She also friended me on Facebook and reports to me every time she does something new in the church (visiting teaching, giving a talk, teaching a Gospel Essentials class). She wrote something for me to share with the Primary about her conversion and the blessings that come from missionary work. She will be coming to stay with us in March and we are looking forward to taking her to visit a number of the local temples here.

Zack also wrote something up for me in his previous email. It was a great sharing time!

Baptism!

Dad,
Nila's baptism went great. She brought a lot of her family and they all had a really good time. Her sister will hopefully be baptised at the end of the month as well. Another great miracle we had happened with this kid named David. We met him on the street and gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it. Turns out that he read the whole thing in one day! He holds the UK record for the fastest of Harry Potter number seven. Just over 2 and a half hours! He prayed about it [we assume he means Book of Mormon and not HP 7] and knows it's true as well. The only downside is that he is moving to Luke's mission on Saturday. We'll see how things go but it'll probably be a baptism for them. Other than that things in Selby have been really slow! But we're confident we can find people to teach. After we left our tea appointment last night I realise that I haven't found the family in Selby that I'm supposed to baptise yet. That's a scary feeling when you might only be in an area for another 4 weeks, but we'll see what happens. This ward is so great I don't ever want to leave. The bishop said that he is going to call President Lindley and request that I stay another transfer. I don't know if that will do any good but we'll see. Yesterday we had a mission tour and wow was it epic. A mission tour is when an area presidency travels around the mission and gives kind of like a zone conference on Monday and Tuesday. We had ours yesterday and it was great. They talked all about the miracles that come from personal and powerful prayer. There is a mission in Portugal that went from baptising 8 people in 6 months to over 100 people last month because of personal prayer. Crazy crazy. Hopefully that will help us find the person/people that we need to teach and baptise here in Selby. Jordan Steinagel got home this week! Isn't that crazy. Jon said that he has 2 months left. That means that Joe will be back before the year ends and then Jeff in February. I can't believe it. Its gone way too fast. Well this luck I've got my driving test. Wish me luck! It's going to be quite expensive. I already paid 60 but I'm taking some lessons tomorrow which will be another 50. The mission will hopefully reimburse like 100 of it but we'll see. Wish me luck. Well I love you Dad. Thanks for sending me on a mission. Best decision ever! Take care!
Elder Rowley

Mum,
Lindsay's first dance?!!? Ridiculous, I can't believe how old she is now. Nila's baptism went great on Saturday! Her whole family came and they all loved it. Sophie (her sister) is doing really well too. Hopefully she gets baptised at the beginning of next month. And as for David. He is golden. Read the whole Book of Mormon in one day and we gave him a quad that hopefully he'll finish soon. Unfortunately he is moving to the Manchester Mission on Saturday for school. I told Luke about it and he might know the missionaries but he's been home for a while so probably not. It is still amazing. I told Dad about the mission tour and how I still feel like there is a family for us here in Selby. I might get transferted soon so hopefully we can find them this next week! I think that is a great idea about Mike. I'll tell him about it today and then I'll have him Facebook you about it. And you wanted me to tell about how missionary work has blessed my life? Well I don't know exactly what you want and there's not exactly enough room to put it on here with but I'll give it a go. A mission becomes everything to you. It helps you appreciate everything you've ever been given and then gives you a desire to give it all to other people. On you mission you feel closer to Heavenly Father than at any other time in your life and you feel the love of Jesus Christ every day. You'll never work harder, cry harder, sleep better, or be happier than on your mission. More than any other time in your life, you live the covenant of your baptism to always remember Jesus Christ. Plus its a blast to go and meet a completely different kind of people! I hope that will work. Well I've got to get going. I'm taking my driving test on Thursday, I hope it goes well. I have some driving lessons tomorrow and then its show time. I think I'll do alright, I hope I just pass it the first time and don't have to worry about it any longer. Wish me luck. I love you Mum so much. Take care!
Elder Rowley
ps- Elder Thimmesch did wrestling and he told Kyle that he should definitely do it! Also, did you know it is your parents 50th anniversary on Thursday? Love you!