Life according to Zack in the England Leeds Mission

Monday, March 26, 2012

The happiest I have ever been

Mum,
I'm glad to hear about the stuff with Grandma Jacobs going
well, though it must have been pretty interesting and all. Oh, where
do I start with Hartlepool. I feel like I could talk about it and
especially our people all day long. Oh well let's try for a start. So
my companion is Elder John Shumway from St. George Utah and he loves
to hunt. He goes home in 6 weeks and is such a great friend and
example. I love serving and teaching with him, it is a blast. We
have a car and are over 7 teams in the Billingham stake. I got to go
to a stake coordination meeting yesterday which was an interesting
experience that I enjoyed. Let me tell you about the area.
Hartlepool is a branch of the church that is quite small. There is a
senior couple here and he is the branch president but President
Lindley said that they aren't sending any more senior couples here to
be branch presidents so we have to find and baptise the new branch
president. This gets me in to the people we are teaching. I could
talk about them all day, I love them so much! So there is a pretty
ghetto area here in Hartlepool and a couple of transfers ago they
found and started teaching kind of the ring leader of it all. They are converted!
Everytime we go over there I feel like I am at home. They are so
loving and amazing and hilarious and just perfect. They are getting
married in April and then baptised a week later. He is the new branch
president. Because he is the ring leader of everything in Hartlepool
he has given us so many people to teach. It is such an amazing
experience to teach him and his friends because they have all been through so much in their lives. But when you look in
their eyes and teach them the gospel their humble and broken hearts
melt. I love teaching them so much! We have so many of them and I
could talk about them all day long. It is like every relationship we
have with every investigator is such a sacred feeling. I love it so
much. We always tell each other, "I wish my whole mission could feel
this way." It is the happiest I have ever been and I love it! Its
funny because I'm always at a loss for words with these people. When
they pray, when they keep commitments, when they accept baptism I am
just amazed and stand in wonder and awe. It's great. So that's pretty
much Hartlepool in a nutshell. I love it here. Well mum that's about
it for me. Thanks for everything. I've sorted almost everything with
BYU and such and it should be fine. I got to visit my African friends
before I left Leeds and I told one of them to add you on Facebook, I
don't know if she has yet. Her name is Ilsy D'alva or something like
that. Love you mum, take care!
Elder Rowley
ps- I gave Dad, my address and such but if you send it to the mission
office I'll be there in 2 weeks so you can decided. Take care!


Dad,
I don't know where to start this week. Things are super epic
here. My companion is John Shumway from St. George, Utah and he loves
to hunt. Elder RS. Smith my old companion is in the zone and all
three of us just talking about hunting and shooting and fishing and
everything all day long. He is such a great example and I love
serving with him. The area we live in is really close to the sea, I
can see it from my flat and it has been a great adventure so far. Let
me tell you about the people we are teaching. So in England you get
these pockets of really rough and poor places where there are a lot of
drug problems and things. The people in these areas are all really
struggling with loads of things and most of the time they are not
receptive to missionaries at all. But we are teaching them here!
There is a man and his fiance and they are the
centre of everything here. He has a rough life and is kind of
like the ring leader of all of Hartlepool, everyone we see knows him.
But they are converted, that is all I can say. I feel like
they are family. It's so amazing because of them we are teaching loads
and loads of people. They are getting married in April
and baptised a week later. I am just at a lost for words at how
amazing these people are. I feel like everyone we teach is one of the
Rowley clan. I love it here. It's amazing. Yesterday was like the
best day ever at church. Hartlepool is just a tiny little branch and
there is a senior couple here and he is the branch president. We had
some people there and one of our investigators bore her testimony at
church. Its amazing. Me and Elder Shumway just look at each other all
day and say, "I've never been this happy in my whole life." So
pretty much things here are amazing and I love it. It feels like I've
been here for like a month and a half already and I hope it stays that
way. I'll be sure to give you a picture or two next week. Dont'
worry about the BYU stuff, I've got most of it figured out. I was sad
but also happy to hear about Grandma Jacobs. I knew she was ready to
go. Well Dad, that's about it for me. I love you so much. Take
care!
Elder Rowley
ps-Did you by any chance sign me up for the draw this year for the
deer hunt? Its no problem if you didn't.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Another great adventure

Dad,
Well Saint Patrick's day was kind of funny here. We live by a
long line of pubs so almost every night we see loads of drunkards. On
weekends they dress in really funny clothes and run the whole length
of the road going from pub to pub to pub. They call it the Otley Run.
So that was my Saint Patrick's Day. But I didn't have much time to
write as usual unfortunately. I'm having to figure out courses for
school and such. But it was transfers this week! I was really
surprised the hear that I'm leaving Leeds 1! Only six weeks here, I
can't believe it. It was neat though because when I got here I had
the feeling that I would be leaving after one transfer. It's funny how
the Spirit warns you of that kind of stuff so you can prepare. I also
totally guessed what is happening to Elder Weitzel as well. He's
gonna be the District Leader here and is also gonna train a new
missionary! It's super exciting. There were loads of trainers in this
group and 6 of them have been in my district! I'm so proud of all of
them. Elder Thimmesch is training as well so I'm getting a grandson
as they say on the mission! So things are going really well. I'm
excited for this next transfer. I'll be moving to Hartlepool in the
Billingham Zone. I'll be serving with Elder Shumway from St. George I
think. He trained Elder Woodbury one of my old companions. He goes
home in 6 weeks so that will be another great adventure. And get
this, we are gonna have a car finally! I'm pretty excited to see what
missionary work is like with a car. So things should be good. Sorry
this e-mail is so short again dad. Thanks for everything, I think and
talk of you often. I'll talk to you next week. Love you!
Elder Rowley

Mum,
We had some really neat experiences with languages this week!
Yesterday we taught a Romanian family that came to church on Sunday.
They loved it and are pretty epic. It's funny because the wife speaks
no English, the husband speaks a little English, and the friend only
speaks Romanian and German. Haha. So the lesson was in English,
German, and Romanian. It was pretty fun. We also taught in
Portuguese this week as usual and French which is always exciting. I
love it here. But unfortunately my time was short here and I'm being
transfered! Who knew I would have a 6 week area! I'm moving up North
to Hartlepool in the Billingham Zone. I've never served around there
but I've got some good friends there. It's funny because Elder Weitzel
will be taking over the District and training a new missionary at the
same time. He's only been out six months. I expect great things for
him and kind of knew this was going to happen. So we'll have to see
how it all plays out but I'm excited. The missionary I trained is
training as well so as they call it I'm getting a grandson in the
mission! It was a pretty exciting transfer all in all. I feel like
there was a lot that happened this week but I don't have too much time
to write it. The mission president is fine with me looking at classes
and such during p-day. I'm looking at a lot of courses and have
talked with some people who went to BYU so I have a pretty good idea
about what I'm gonna do. I'll suprise you with it when the time
comes. But that is enough about that. Thanks for everything mom I
love you so much! Take care and have a good week!
Elder Rowley

Monday, March 12, 2012

And I thought I was going somewhere where I could only teach in English

Mum,
Wow there is a lot in that e-mail you sent! I am still
tripping out at the pictures of Sam and Kyle at all the temples. That
must be really really exciting, I'm glad she's enjoyed her visit. And
the softball tournament in St. George must have been a blast as well.
I'm glad to hear that Lindsay did a good job. I showed Elder Rosen
the pictures and asked him if he recognised it, he laughed. Did you
know his family is moving to Provo by next year. That'll be pretty
interesting. I'm so excited for Kenzie! That'll be really good for
her. The great thing is that she could go pretty much anywhere,
Spanish speaking, ASL or who knows what. Oh I have a neat story that
you should pass on to her this week if possible. So I got a letter
from her awhile ago and she said that I should try and learn some
British Sign Language which is completly different from American Sign
Language. So last time in Leeds I learned the alphabet from a member
who is from Bradford where there is a semi-large deaf community. Then
in North Shields if you remember we used to teach a girl and we also
taught her sign language with a member. From the member I learned all
sorts of usefull missionary sign language. So last week I was sitting
on a bus looking at a map and found excuse to move seats and talk to
someone. I looked over and asked him which stop I needed to get off
at to get to a specific street. He pointed to his ears and mouthed,
"I'm deaf." Haha. It was neat when I started signing to him my name
and such! He looked at me suprised and signed, "How do you know sign
language?" So I explained (or attempted to explain) that I was a
missionary and such. He said he knew the church and had some deaf
friends from Bradford who were members and he's met with them a couple
of times and has even been to church. It was neat that the only signs
I knew were things I could ask him about the church and the Gospel.
It was a pretty neat experience and just funny how the Lord uses skill
and such that I thought wouldn't have done me much good. Funny story
huh? So try and get a hold of Kenz and tell her about it, I still
smile just thinking about it! So ya as usual we had some great
experiences this week and it was a great testimony that the work is
true. I love it here and things are picking up more and more and
more. I just hope we get some baptisms soon! We met a Portuguese
woman last week and we were able to teach her with a member who
actually spoke Portuguese which is always a blast. We also had
appointments in French and Romanian. Come to think of it we taught
few lessons in English. Funny how things work! And I thought I was
going somewhere where I could only teach in English. Things are great
and I love it. Thanks for everything mum, I'll talk to you next week!
Love you.
Elder Rowley

Monday, March 5, 2012

Willing to sacrifice

Dad,
Well this week has been really good but its gone by really fast again.
I hope this doesn't stay forever, I need things to slow down a little
bit. But it was good. I told mum about the mission tour we had with
Elder Texiera from the first quorum of the seventy and the area
presidency. It was quite the experience. I've taken so much for
granted being in the church my whole life, so many amazing
opportunities. I love the church so much! But anyways. After that
we went to work and I really learned a lot this week from my companion
Elder Weitzel. He's so young on his mission but his is really good.
He teaches me lessons in diligence and in following the Spirit and
everything. I'm always worried when I see new missionaries because I
wonder what kind of hands we'll be leaving the work with but then I
realise that they are so much better than I ever was. I think that's
kind of how the church works isn't it, we help the next generation to
fulfill its task of taking forward the church. I love it! But ya so
we had some neat experiences this week, let me just think of one or
two that I could share.... So I told Luke about this one. So we are
teaching a massive Romanian family of seven and they are doing
alright. Pretty much every time we plan for them we say that we need
to drop them but every time we sit down in that house the Spirit tells
us not to. Its kind of neat. So we went yesterday and found out that
they have read 200 pages in the Book of Mormon. We hadn't been able
to see them that week but they had remembered the appointment we'd
made and get this, they invited themselves to church on Sunday! So
we've got to find a way to get them there but its gonna be good. The
other thing I learned there was a pretty powerful life lesson. So
there is like a law or something here and the Romanians aren't able to
get jobs, so what they do is play the accordian in the streets. On
weekends they make paper roses and sell them to people at the clubs.
They make like no money but they have very little. I have always
wondered why they would do this. They
move around a lot and do this pretty much everywhere they go. But
they are staying in Leeds and it was really powerful when they told us
why. The mum pointed to her 11 year old son and said, "I do it for
him." "He can go to school and go to university and have a good life,
I know I will never get a job in England but it is enough for me to
know that someday my son will have a job." It was so touching to see
how much they were willing to sacrifice for their family in the
future. I think about our ancestors and everything they did for us.
It was just a powerful thing to learn. So that was the epic story of
the week. That'll be all from me, I'm gonna go take a nap or
something. Thanks for everything dad, I love you so much. Take care!
Elder Rowley


Mum,
That is so cool to see Sam in Utah and in front of the
temple. That's epic! Tell her I say hello! I was thinking about her
this week and I thought it would be a great adventure for her to be in
Utah, tell her to enjoy it and maybe we can plan another trip sometime
in a couple of years! Well this week was really good but really short
as usual it seems. We had a neat experience in meeting with a general
authority on Wednesday. We got to meet with Elder Texiera from the
first quorum of the seventy, he's also on the area presidency for
western Europe. He's from Portugal too which was fun. He told us
loads of really amazing stories and I learned a lot. He talked about
referrals and how we need to be much better and seeking referrals. He
joined the church when he was 17 and it was because his uncle joined.
In fact his uncle had 6 brothers and sisters and all of them joined
the church in Portugal. It was just a fantastic meeting and I loved
it! The work this week was really good as well. We struggled to get
appointments with our investigators but we were blessed to find some
new people. We had a neat experience I'll tell you about. So we had
a day where every appointment canceled on us. It totally sucked and
we didn't know what to do. All of our back up plans fell through as
well which was just a pain. So we prayed about it and decided to try
and see a potential that lived by the institute building near town.
We got on the street and started walking up it when Elder Weitzel
says, "Hey, we should knock on that door" I was frustrated and notice
that sometimes I try and force spiritual promptings when I don't know
what to do so I asked him, "Is this really a prompting or are you just
upset about the night" He looked at me and said, "Now you're making
me all confused" So I looked at him and it was like the Spirit said,
"Duh, it's a prompting, go for it!" So we knocked on the door and a
man from France opened up and said, come on in! He's really good and
it was the person the Lord wanted us to see that night. Miracle
miracle miracle. It seems like there is a never ending supply of
miracles on a mission, I love it. There were some great other things
that happened this week but I think I'll just leave it at that for
now. Its been a great week and we'll be looking forward for another
great one. Well mum, I love you so much.
Thanks for everything! Talk to you next week!
Elder Rowley

Monday, February 27, 2012

Hearing the gospel in their own tonuge

Mum,
Ya I totally got a package from that family you know that
lives in England, the American one, Harris or something? It was full of American cereal and
stuff. The flat really loved it and we tore into it. Things are
going really really well here and its been a good week. I'll let you
know about all that later though. That's so exciting about Sam.
I'm sure she is going to love it. It sounds like you have some really
good plans for her and everything. I think that all sounds good. I think all in all she will
enjoy it a lot though. And I'm so excited that you will be learning
Spanish. I think I'll pick it up sometimes soon. So that was the
business stuff I had to cover now I can let you in on how our week
was. This week seemed to fly by and things were really really good.
We had a metting on Tuesday for all the leaders in the mission and it
was here in Leeds as they usually are. It was really really powerful
and President LIndley asked some of the leaders to give presentations
on certain aspects of being a leader. It was really really neat
because all the people that he asked to speak were people who had been
my leaders in the past. I felt the Spirit really strong as I thought
about how much they had influenced my mission and the rest of my life
because of the way that they taught me and helped me progress, that
was the general feeling that we got from the meeting. Then the day
after I had to give a district meeting and it changed the way I look
at it a little bit. I've always tried to be an influence on the
people I'm serving but it really helped me see that it can make a
really big difference in people's lives. I know it has changed mine.
So that was good and after that I actually got to work with my
companion for a full day. For a missionary who is so young he really
knows what he is doing and I love working with him, he's great. He
took care of the week even though I wasn't really there for most of
it. The day after that I went on exchange with a Swedish missionary
named Elder Rosen. I wanted you to look up where Talisa is because I
know that his ward is a sister's ward and that if she was there they
would know her. The branch that he's from is called GAVLE so have a
look and see what you can find. His family is actually moving to
pretty soon which will be neat. It was so much fun to be on exchange
with him because he speaks Chinese and I finally learned some Chinese!
He taught me how to say, "I have a friend who speaks Chinese!" I
know its just the beginning though and I hope to be able to do a whole
approach in Chinese by the end of being here. It's funny how much of a
difference it makes for people, we found loads of people who were
interested and all because we could speak a little Chinese! HAha. I
had a spiritual experience that I wanted to share this week that had
to do with languages. It was fun that we had so many different
language opportunities this week. We taught a Romanian family who
didn't speak any english, we taught a couple lessons in Chinese, we
taught someone completly in French, and Elder Wietzel met someone who
spoke German and talked to them for about 10 minutes. It was really
neat to see that in most of those cases I couldn't really say much in
their language but I could understand most of what was being said.
That was an amazing miracle I realised this week and a spiritual gift
I feel I've been blessed with. It was neat. Well that was about all
that I had to report on this week. Thanks so much for everything mum,
love you loads. Tell Sam I say hello! Love you
Elder Rowley

Dad,
I'll answer your questions first. Yes, I can use a DVD player
to hear those talks and its not against the rules either so that
should be fine. I can't believe that Caitlyn is getting married. I
hope things work out with the truck and with Grandma and Grandpa
Rowley. IT seems like it never ends with the Rowley family! I don't
think there is anything else I needed to report on. But this week has
been a really good one but a really fast one as usual. P-Day was
funny because we spent some time with the zone leaders and ended up
and Sister Lindley's for lunch. She is so sweet and it was great to
be in a home so full of the Spirit! But then in the blink of an eye
p-day was over. Then on Tuesday we had Leadership Training. It was a
meeting designed to help the leaders of the mission to learn from each
other and get some discussions going around. We recieved some
instruction from a couple of different leaders and they had all been
my leader at some point or another. We talked about how much of a
sacred trust it is to be a leader and how much of an effect we can
have on those we lead. I can honestly say that it has changed my
entire life, the leaders I've had on my mission. It was really good.
Then on Wednesday I was on the other side of the meeting and gave a
district meeting. It is something I really enjoy now because of how
much revelation you can recieve for a group of people, it was really
fun to choose a topic and then realise that it was an answer to
someone's prayer or question. Its fun. Then I finally got to work
with Elder Weitzel for a day but then the day after went on exchange
with Elder Rosen from Sweden (his family is actually moving to Utah
pretty soon which will be neat). He speaks Chinese really well and we
got to teach and talk to a bunch of people in Chinese. I'm starting
to be able to understand Chinese now which is neat! I couldn't get
all of it but I could understand most of what they were saying.
Pretty crazy. But then I blinked and the week was over. We were
blessed with 4 people at church again which was really good and all in
all it was a great week. I love it in this ward, it is a blast and
hard and crazy and really fun. I just hope we get some baptisms soon.
Well Dad, that's it for me. Thanks for everything. I'll talk to you
next week. Love you!
Elder Rowley

Monday, February 20, 2012

Great miracles

Dad,
Elder Weitzel's English is perfect. He studied in Leeds like 2
years ago anyways! Also, guess #1 was right on Google Earth. The
flat is finished now and there are 6 flats in it and we live in number
6. So its the middle one in that picture you sent. But I promise it
looks nicer than the picture. I'm glad that Jeff's talk was good and
that he is doing well. Sounds like everyone is getting adjusted to
being home and stuff. They'll all be into school pretty soon.
Suckers!!! Haha. Well this week has been really amazing. Me and
Elder Weitzel work really well together and both want to see some
great miracles. The Lord has been sending us some great ones as well.
I don't have too much time so I'll share a few with you. So we are
in a university area so we talk to a lot of younger people and a lot
of girls as well. Its always a little bit awkward and I'm not super
comfortable doing it but its makes it easier that I'm just a
messenger. So I was talking to this girl last week and she said that
she was a little interested but she didn't really know much about God
and she was not really convinced that she should let us come over. It
was weird because even though she was saying no she kept talking to
me. Eventually she said that we could come by and see her but as I
was writing down her information she seemed kind of nervous. She
said, "I shouldn't really be doing this, why am I doing this?" And
then I looked at her and said something I've never said before. I
looked her dead in the eye and said, "So why are you doing it?" That
could have gone really bad but I felt the Spirit really strong and she
said that her life is kind of breaking down right now and that she
feels maybe this could help her. I testified to her and her eyese
started watering. It was really powerful. She canceled the
appointment but said we could come back at a different time. It was
exciting. I'm about to get kicked off the computer but I'll log back
on and try and write another quick letter.
Mum,
I'm at a loss for words, Hannah is coming to England?!?! Is
she going to the London South Mission? Do you think she'll be doing
special work there with giving tours to visiters? She speaks Arabic
so maybe that has something to do with it. That's incredible. I can't
believe it! This week has been really really good here. Elder
Weitzel is a blast and speaks perfect English which just makes things
even funner! We've been saying funny stuff in German all week as
well. Things are picking up in the area as well and we saw some great
miracles. We are teaching a woman from Western African (Guinee) and
she speaks French. With all the diversity in the ward we were still
struggling to find someone who would be able to come with us to teach
her in French but then a miracle happened. We sat down with her at
church on Sunday and this African family sat in front of us. After
the meeting I introduced myself to them and asked where they were from
praying they would be from French speaking western Africa (which was
pretty likely), sure enough they said they were from Congo and then
you should have seen our investigator's eyes light up! They started
speaking in French and the family said that this was the perfect and
best church and that she should join. They asked where she lived and
it turns out that they live right next to her! They offered the get
her phone number and we are gonna start teaching her over there in
French!!!! It was so exciting, it was neat too because they said it
all in French and I understood it! Haha! Funny things funny things.
We also had a zone conference and it was given by the MTC President's
in Preston, President and Sister Walker. Sister Walker is the daughter
of President Hinckley! It was really good and uplifting, I loved it!
Oh and I got a call from Mike this week! He's going to Ghana!?!?!!!?!
I can't believe it! Did you know he's going to the Ghana MTC as
well?! It's crazy go nuts! I don't know what else to say this week
but it was a good one and I love it. I'll share one last experience
that was pretty neat. So the Leeds 1 uni team is teaching some people
from Brazil and last night Elder Griffiths came in and said that his
friend wanted me to talk to her in Portuguese. So he hands me the
phone and I had a total conversation in Portuguese! It was only 2 or
3 minutes but it neat that I was able to understand and communicate
completly in a different language. Good times. Well I love you mum,
take care of yourself and I'll talk to you next week! Love you
Elder Rowley
ps- Did you figure out anything about BYU. I looked a little and I
think I just have to re-register and such. I'll try and remembmer to
send you that permission thingy today. Love you, bye!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Our area is massive!

Dad,
Here is the flat address.
2 St. Michael Lane, Flat 6
Headingly, Leeds, LS6 3HS
West Yorkshire England
The way we get to transfers is actually pretty neat. So the whole
mission has transfers at the same time and the we have p-day. After
p-day all those who are getting transfered meet with there companions
at a central point in the zone. For us in the north is was the
Sunderland chapel. Then the mission had organised a coach to take all
the missionaries who were leaving to Crossgates chapel in leeds
(that's where leeds 4 is). Then all the missionaries meet together
who are getting transfered or training or become district leaders and
so forth and we have what's called transfer meeting. So then we hear
the testimonies of the missionaries who are leaving and those coming
in and we see who is training who because they don't tell you before
hand. Then everyone loads up into the respective coach's again and
goes to their new areas and meets with their companions. We pretty
much never travel alone. This just reminded me about a missionary who
went home that I want you to look up and possibly go to his farewell.
His name is Jake Peterson and he is from Roy, Utah. He has been one
of my closest friends on a mission, look him up! So let me tell you
about the area. This area is like the central area in the mission, we
have the mission office and the mission home here. The Leeds 1 ward
is home to 2 universities and has been the zone leaders area forever.
There are almost always 2 teams here in leeds one as well. But the
zone leaders have moved to a different area and now this area has 2
teams in it still. Me and my companion Elder Phillipp Weitzel from
Frankfurt, Germany work in the zone leaders' old area and he has been
here for 2 weeks. He's been on his mission for about 5 months. We
don't have a car and don't know any members and our area is massive!
I mean huge. We live with the university team and I was their
district leaders when they were both being trained so I know them
pretty well. Elder Weitzel is hilarious and we work amazing together.
We have had so much fun and so much success and it has only been 3
days. He is 24 and has a degree in business from, get this, Leeds
University. So he studied here before his mission. Our ward is
massive and has a really big YSA here. We don't know anyone in the
ward except for a kid named Luke Lawrence. Luke came home from his
mission in July and is from Selby and he used to come teaching with us
every day there. We are best friends and he is a ward missionary
which is great. It's kind of amazing how foreign the ward is as well.
In our class I sat there and sitting next to me was someone from
Italy, Iran, Thailand, West Africa, Angola, and Germany. And that was
only half of the class. I love it here so much. Funny story as well,
there was a woman sitting in front of us at church and after church
she started talking to me. I had introduced myself earlier in the
meeting and she asked, "Where is provo are you from?" Turns out she
went to Timpview a while ago and is Provo born and bred. She's good
friends with the former ASL teacher at Provo High School. Small
world. Well I think that's about all I have to report here for this
week. I'm so excited for the work to explode here in Leeds 1 and it
already has! We scheduled 10 people for baptism last week! I'm so
excited. Love you loads dad, take care of yourself!
Elder Rowley
Mum,
So things here are great. Where
do I start. Well my companion is Elder Phillipp Weitzel form
Frankfurt, Germany and he is 24. Oddly enough he studied at Leeds
University which is in our area. He has a bachelor's degree in
business and has been on his mission for about 5 or 6 months. He is
so funny and we work so well together. I can tell we are going to
have some amazing miracles here in Leeds 1. We live in a 4 man flat
with a university team. Elder Griffiths from Bountiful and Elder
Rosen from Sweden. Elder Rosen speaks chinese so they mostly work the
university area. We don't have a car but we work what used to be the
zone leaders area. They just barely moved out of the area so we are
pretty much what they call whitewashing the area. The area is massive
and it includes the mission office and the mission home where
president and siser lindley live. This ward is massive and has a huge
YSA. There is a member here from Selby named Luke Lawrence and he got
home from his mission when I was in Selby and came teaching with us
every day. So I've already got friends in the ward! He's great and
is gonna help us out a lot. There are a lot of struggles though in
this area because we are taking over from the zone leaders and there
is another team serving in our ward. We have to coordinate work with
the ward but we don't know a single person there and there is already
another team working for members to support them and their
investigators. It's been a stressfull week but I love it here so much.
I can tell this is going to be an amazing area. I'm really happy
about North Shields as well because I was replaced by like my best
friend in the mission so I know there will be some great miracles
there that we'll be able to share together someday. He's from Texas
but will be living in Provo again when he gets home. So pretty much
this area is amazing and I'm so happy to be in the zone again. I'll
send dad the flat address and such. Let me know if there is anything
you need from me. Thanks
for everything much. Love you loads!
Elder Rowley