Short but Sweet

Hey Family!!!

I hope everyone is doing well! it was awesome to hear from more of you this week... i could still use some more love:) you can email me!! anytime during the week, and i can read it that day! i wont be able to reply, but i'll read it and enjoy it and love you even more:)

This week has been awesome! but honestly nothing too eventful has happened.. our investigator was confirmed and that was awesome! and we went to a baby shower for another one of our investigators and it was soo fun! she is so cute, and we really want her and her husband to be baptized:) but they are a little slow coming, but coming none the less! Its been really really hot, and everyone keeps telling us to just wait! apparently it gets worse... crap. and apparently it rains everyday in the summer, pours! but only for like an hour and then its scorching hot the rest of the day. (everyone pray that i get transferred to a car area:p)

My companion and I set a goal this week to laugh more, and what a difference that makes! Its crazy how much closer we have gotten to each other just by laughing more, at or with each other:) and i would like to extend the same challenge to all of you! laugh more:) its good for you! oh and watch the mormon message: come what may and love it. Its awesome and talking about laughing just made me think of it. But honestly, guys, its just been a good week.

This email is going be kind of short because today we have a Zone Development Day. AKA Mandatory-Fun Day:) we honestly, truly just get to go hang out with everyone in our zone ALL DAY! it doesnt even end at six (like P-Day normally does). And, get this: we get to wear normal clothes!!!! as a matter of fact, i am wearing jeans as we speak! it feels so weird... :) im pretty excited.. if you couldnt tell!

Wow, this is really short... y'all are going to think i'm an Elder or something! But i really am just loving life, things are going really well and i am learning more and more every day!! The most important thing that i have learned this week and that i want to share with all of you, is that God loves us! and that is the reason for everything:) its the answer to every "why?" question we can think of! and remembering that changes how we treat ourselves and how we treat others. How dare we judge, think harshly about, and criticize someone that God loves so much! and that includes ourselves:) We need to remember that God is loving and compassionate, He is our Father. He is proud of us and everything we are doing, no matter how small! I think of a little baby and how a simple "Dada" is so exciting! Facebook posts, video texts, journal entries... all for a little "dada".. Heavenly Father is the same way. No matter how insignificant we feel we are or how small the things we are doing, Heavenly Father is always saying, "Good job! Look at what you have done, look at all that you have to be proud about." Dont forget that! and dont forget that even if the only thing we learn how to do in this life is how to use the Atonement, that is enough:)

I love you all! and i wish you a wonderful week:) keep being incredible!

Love always, Sister Rowland

This week's pictures

This is a picture of them on their way to the 5K last Saturday

Kaitlin in her Easter dress

And this is in front of a palm tree to prove she's in Florida :) 

The edited update... :)

(Note from mom:  It was suggested that we not share names of members and investigators on public blogs and FB posts, thus I have edited the names she put in.  Also was told we shouldn't share the pictures of members and investigators without permission so I am only posting the ones of Kaitlin and the other Sisters from here on out)

Hey mommy! Yeah I did get the package:) thanks so much!! We got candy
overloaded this week! Our ward spoils us and we had multiple people
make us little Easter goodie bags plus the candy from you guys plus
candy from sister Chadwick's family and her friend:) we are learning
how to exercise self control :p

I miss the temple so much:( president Cusick is working on getting permission

for us to go but so far no such luck. But, we do get to see the dedication

 of the Fort Lauderdale temple on May 4!

We are starting to find that even though President Cusick seems really
strict, if you are an obedient missionary he will pretty much let you
do anything as long as you ask him first and it helps us fulfill our
purpose as missionaries:) We also got to run another 5k this week! We
passed out 103 Mormon.org cards, (much more successful than last
time). And one of our zone leaders took 3rd place! It was super fun:)
then it starting raining, but there's a weird thing that happens here
in Florida where it's not really rain but it's like the air is misty.
It's really awesome!  

You should tell people to write me letters or emails!
I need more love:)

 Easter was so fun! Like I said we got spoiled by the ward :)

plus we had a baptism!!! It was the neatest experience!
Then we went and had dinner with the (O Family).

They are probably my favorite people ever! They have six
kids, so I felt pretty at home :) their daughter N. is like my best
friend, she's ten but she's as tall as me! I love her to death! And
then they have a cute little baby that it kills me I can't hold! She
is so cute! On holidays we aren't allowed to say no to members who
invite us over. So if we get invited to ten dinners, we better have a
huge appetite! Luckily we only got invited to two. The other is this
cute couple who are raising two of their grand kids. And I love them
as well. We have dinner over there every Sunday :) but they we moving
to Texas:/ I can't remember what part.... Maybe they will be in Jesse’s
ward! How weird would that be? :)

 We also got to sing in sacrament meeting. I had a solo/ descant part

and I totally bombed it! It was bad ... But it was okay because the spirit

was there anyway:) The baptism was the neatest experience!

Like words cannot describe. It's incredible how Heavenly Father prepares people

 to hear his gospel. And he leads us to them at just the right time.  It's really
taught me never to judge people. Or to say that they will never
change, because we can't see the work that Heavenly Father is doing on
their hearts. And everyone can change! We just need to keep praying
for them and keep inviting them to come unto Christ, because one of
these days they might be ready to accept that invitation. And how sad
would it be if we gave up on them right before that happens?

I've decided that I want to give you guys weekly invitations to do
things, and I want the whole family, extended included, to
participate:) people this work is being hastened, and it's being
hastened for a reason. Not because Heavenly Father is bored and wants
to mix things up, not because it's time for something new. It's
because time is running out, Christ is coming, guys.  That's the
bottom line. The finish line is in sight and it's time to give this
all that we've got! We can't be lazy about this and we can't sit back
and hope someone else will do it. We have to be the ones to do it,
right now! Right now, nothing is more important! Nothing is more
important than helping our brothers and sisters get Home.
So this week’s invitation is to meet the missionaries in your area, get
to know them, and get to know their investigators and pray for their
investigators, by name, as a family, every night. And I will follow up
next week, and see how it went! How easy is that? .... Don't worry,
they will get harder :)
I love you all so much! And I hope all is well :) have a super
fantastic week, say your prayers, and read your scriptures!

Love always, Sister Rowland

Picture Time

These are the pictures from the Special Olympics 5k that they ran in March!

The rest of the pictures from the trip to the aquarium :)

This girl amazes me on a regular basis!

Hey Family!

 

So before I forget, mormon.org is doing this awesome thing for easter called because of him! you need to check it out, like it, and share it on facebook:) there is an awesome video that you can share, and in the comment thing you write "Because of him..." and fill in the blank! Lets help everyone remember christ this week and everything that he has done for us:) lets flood the internet with testimonies of christ this week in honor of the sacred easter season!

 

I'll start... Because of Him, I can change. I can improve and become better each day! That is such a blessing, and its something that we so often take for granted. There was a talk in the priesthood session that talks about how the moment we say, "Thats just the way i am.." we give up our ability to change. Thats scary! I never want to give up my ability to change, because I have so many weaknesses! It is through the enabling power of the atonment that we can change, and we can become the best we can be!

 

Anyway, things here are going awesome! WE HAVE A BAPTISM ON SUNDAY!! and he is doing awesome!! He is so excited, and so prepared. I've never met anyone so christlike and anyone who so badly desires to do good. Please pray pray pray that everything goes well this week:) We are also going to sing in sacrament meeting on sunday with one of the members and i am so excited. we are singing a really cool version of i know that my redeemer lives, and it has a pretty descant and everything. On saturday this week we are going to run another 5K! This time we are running it with the zone leaders though, so we cant slack on the card passing out :p I am way excited! so not in shape for it... but excited:) This past week we had a chance to do some fun activities with the ward members and meet a lot of their friends! the ward is starting to get more excited about missionary work, slowly but surely:) good things are happening!

 

I survived my first transfer!! its been a whole six weeks that i have been out here... how crazy is that? I love it more and more every day! This past week we got the chance to go on exchanges with the sister training leaders and that was really fun too! they have been out for 14 months and i learned so much from them! plus they are spanish speaking so when there was someone that i couldnt talk to they could jump in and speak spanish! its funny because some people will try and pull one over on us and be like "no speak english" and then the Hermana would jump in and say "Perfecto! Yo hablo espanol!" and its funny to see peoples reaction, because they didnt get away with it:) We have been meeting some of the most awesome people!

 

One thing that I have learned this week that I really want to share with all of you guys comes from Matt 5:48! And this is purely doctrine according to Kait, so take it as you will :) It says "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." And in the footnotes it says perfect means complete, finished, and fully developed. And I was thinking about that and there is so much we can learn about ourselves and our divine nature from that scripture! We, all the time, tell people that this life is made for us to become like our Heavenly Father, but if you think about it... we already are like him. Thats what it means to be sons and daughters of god! Our sons and daughters arent made out of something different than us, they are like us, they just aren't fully developed. And we can conclude from that scripture that since God is complete, finished and fully developed that there was a time that he wasn't. And if you think about it, in a way the Creation isn't complete... in a way, Heavenly Father continues to "create man in His image" by the trials and blessings that come in life. He is continually creating us to be "perfect". That is what divine nature means, it means we are children of God and we are like him! we just aren't finished yet. That is why we need to be righteous, that is why we need to choose the right, because that is the natural path for our spirits to take. That is the natural process of creating man in the image of God. And anything else we do halts our development. It gives a whole new perspective on who we are, and knowing who we are motivates us to do God's will for us! thats the smart way, thats the natural way, and in the end its the easier way:) Because we are already like God, and He is completing and finishing us each and every day!

 

I love you guys so much! And I hope you all have a super duper fantastic week:)

 

Love always and forever, Sister Rowland:)

......and the weekly email :)

Hey family!
It has been miserably hot here, and it's not even humid yet! I don't
know how on earth I am going to survive the summer... I hear that you
guys had like hail and rain and snow one day last week. There is a man
in my ward from Utah and his family is still there. He came out here
for work and his family will be coming in the summer after school is
out. So he keeps me updated on what's happening in Utah:) conference
was awesome! We watched it at the church with the other sisters and
senior couple in our ward. We had an investigator come and a less
active:) it was awesome! I absolutely love elder Hollands talk:) he is
always my favorite. Watching conference took on a whole new meaning
being on a mission and you appreciate it a lot more. We teach people
who have no idea that we have a living prophet and that god speaks to
us through him and his apostles. And we get to hear from our prophet
two whole times a year! You just learn to appreciate it so much more:)

So about that investigator who came to conference... He is so awesome!
He is the one that I told you about last week that called us! We had a
lesson with him on Wednesday and committed him to be baptized on April
20th! Heavenly Father really does prepare people. This man is probably
the most prepared man I will ever meet on my mission. When we taught
the first lesson he told us he was miserable, that he was "in a season
of reaping" and didn't Ike what he was reaping. I wish you could have
seen him by the end of the lesson, he was glowing! The change was so
incredible. He loves the Book of Mormon and reads it for hours on end
every day and doesn't just read, he studies. He follows cross
references and uses the bible. He told us that he doesn't believe that
it's true, he knows that it is and he can't explain how he knows. He
just does. He told the senior missionaries in our ward that he has
been happy for almost a whole week now and he never wants to lose this
feeling. I seriously wish you guys could meet him. This guy is
something special, you can tell by looking at him that Heavenly Father
has something special in store for him. I am so excited for his
baptism! He is so ready, he doesn't even need us to teach him.

Other than him, our week has been pretty un eventful. But it's been
really good:) I can't even describe it but I just feel just happy
about everything. Oh is cool thing that I don't think I have told you
yet: I our mission we have online elders that literally just teach
lessons online all day long! It's cool and they are actually pretty
successful.

This email is a little bit shorter than most but it's because I'm on
my iPad and it's a lot harder to type on this:) but I love you all so
much! Remember to be confident in who you are as children of god. And
always remember that everyone you meet every day is a child of god as
well:) it makes a difference in how you treat them. If everyone knew
this and treated people as such, imagine what a different world we
would live in! It helps in missionary work as well. It's really
intimidating to go up to someone random on the streets and share a
gospel message with them, but if you love them like a brother or
sister and recognize the importance of the message you have to share,
it makes it easier. I love you all so much! Have an incredibly amazing
week:)

Love always and forever, Sister Rowland :)

We have pictures !! :) A few anyway..

This is a picture that a friend at the MTC drew on the whiteboard

This is Sister Rowland's MTC District?

Sister Rowland and Sister Waters(MTC Comp)

MTC District? 

At the Aquarium: Alligator in the background :)

These are the Sisters that serve in the Tampa 4th Ward 

(Mom's note:  Kaitlin tried to send us some pictures.... unfortunately she can only do a couple at a time and it takes quite a while:)  So we have no explanations on the caricature.  The next 3 are from the MTC and the last 3 appear to be from their visit to the aquarium last week.  I'll take what I can get :)  )