A quick, late update :)

So we went to the metro!  That's the downtown thing where you go and talk to a million people :) It was lots of fun!  A lot of walking though... my feet have never hurt so bad in my life!  And we had a run-in with some Jehovah's Witness's....they were actually really nice!! We were able to share our beliefs and find some common ground :)
Our investigator Randolph came to church for the first time and he loved it!  BTW ours and 4 other buildings in the stake are under construction so we had to ALL meet in one building!! It was crazy!
We also set a baptism date with a lady named Danielle.  She has two darling kids!  She is set for August 17th!  Things really are going so well!

Love Y'all!

New companion :)

Hey Family!

 

How is everyone doing? Things down here are going so super duper well! My new companion is awesome! Her name is Sister Coleman and she is from North Carolina but she goes to BYU. She wants to be an elementary school teacher, in high school she was in choir and alot of musicals! but she was always background in the musicals, she's really shy... so yeah shes like my twin:) we seriously have so much in common and we are already best friends! We have decided that we are going to go to college together after our missions and be roommates:) She is shy! which means that I'm not allowed to be, which is probably good for me:) I need to be pushed outside my comfort zone a little bit. We are having so much fun together!

 

Jonathan was confirmed on sunday!! it was such a special blessing that he recieved and it was so cool to see how happy he was. And his dad came!! which is super duper exciting! His mom is still working on getting work off so that she can be baptized, but its a difficult process. We are all putting our faith together and we are expecting some miracles! As far as our other investigators go... we still dont have very many:) but there is a dude, Randolph, who is preparing to be baptized in August. Gio is getting ready to be baptized soon as well!

 

Sister Coleman and I have been doing ALOT of walking and we have honestly been getting pretty discouraged because we arent finding anyone. like at all. Yesterday after church i was just feeling super down and i went into the closet and literally "cried unto the lord". I felt awful because nothing was happening, and i felt like it was my job to make things happen and i just didnt know what to do. i felt the weight of the world on my shoulders, and i couldnt carry it! So i just cried and prayed. After that i went out into the living room and checked the phone and we had a media referral... two minutes later we recieved a phone call from one of the members saying that they had just been over at a part-member families home and the wife (who is not a member) said,"I'm so glad you are here! I want to be mormon!" umm what? So we followed up last night with the media referral and he is so prepared! he has a friend who was just baptized and he wants to know what made his friend change so much after being such a strong catholic. We gave him a book of mormon and he was so excited to read it! IT WAS EPIC! i know that heavenly father never leaves us to carry the world, he will always help us. And he will bless us for doing our best!

 

I'm excited to see what miracles are in store:) I know that everything is okay, and that Heavenly Father is going to help us! Well, this is kind of short but i dont have too much else to say! Our theme song for the past week has been Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked... Poor kids, how did they do it?!

 

Well I love you all oh so very much! And I hope you have an incredible week! :)

 

Love, Sister Rowland

Kaitlin' New Companion

So, this is Kaitlin's new companion.  The only thing I  know is that her name is Sister Coleman.  I'm sure Kait will expand on this on Monday!  

Transfer news..

Hey Family!!

I can't believe its July already! Time just continues to get faster and faster, its crazy! Its been nice and hot here in Florida. Except today! Todays its really rainy, but its the perfect temperature:) The fourth of July was fun... ish. Holidays are always hard because everyone is busy and no one wants to be bothered! We usually count on members to invite us to things but no one did! So we went with the other sisters and handed out glow sticks with mormon.org cards on them to people at the parks and swimming pools:) then, by a glorious tender mercy, one of the families in our ward invited us over for dinner:)

 

Everything went awesome with our baptism yesterday! It was really cool, the guy who was going to baptize him got really sick the morning of so we asked our district leader who is going home tomorrow to do it:) it was so neat! This elder is seriously the greatest missionary in the world and he has been the best district leader. He hasnt had a lot of success in his area though and he was kind of bummed that he was going home without baptizing anybody. But he had the chance to baptize our investigator! Jonathan is seriously awesome. Like I said he did all his research himself, and the lessons were basically a formality because he already knew everything! His mom wants to be baptized, but she works everysunday and its next to impossible to get work off in her industry. We have been talking a lot with her about faith and we are convinced that as she puts forth her faith and works towards baptism that Heavenly Father will provide a way for her to get work off.

 

As far as our other investigators go, we only have one:) these past few weeks have been kind of rough. We have to stop teaching people if they arent keeping commitments, so we had to stop teaching quite a few. But our one other investigator is doing pretty well! Hes the brother of the young couple that got baptized last month. He has some obstacles that he needs to overcome before he can be baptized but its something he wants. He knows hes not happy, and hes seen how happy the gospel has made his brother and his wife. We also found someone that we are going to start teaching! Hes another younger guy, maybe early twenties. But the first time we met with him he told us that he felt like something was missing in his life, and we were able to promise him that we have what hes missing! i'm really excited to work with him.

 

So now the news yall have been waiting for... TRANSFERS! Sister Chadwick is leaving Tampa 4. and I am recieving a new companion straight out of the MTC!!! Yeah, training! how crazy is that? I'm kind of scared to death. But I'm excited beyond all belief too:) and i am counting on the fact that God qualifies those that he calls. I wont meet her until thursday! but i'm excited!

 

In my studies, I have been focusing a lot on faith. I read a scripture the other day that I just cant get out of my head. Its in 3 Nephi 7:18. It says, "And it came to pass that they were angry with him, even because he had greater power than they, for it wer not possible that they could disbelieve his words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ..." This is about the missionary nephi. He had so much faith, that no one could not believe him! He taught with such power and authority that they believed everything he said! they didnt like it... but still. I want to be that way! I want so much faith that Heavenly Father has no choice but to send down miracles. Like the brother of jared! He had so much faith that it wasnt possible that the Lord could keep anything from him! how insane is that? How can we have that great of faith? Just a little food for thought:)

 

I love you all so much! and I hope you have a fantastic week!

 

Love always, Sister Rowland