Sister Kaitlin Rowland, Tampa Florida Mission : Where's Waldo? I mean Sister Rowland...

Sister Schaumkel and Sister Rowland

Transfer Day

Hey Family!

So I guess you are probably all wondering where in the world I ended
up! Well I'm literally in the middle of nowhere. Like literally. All
that's here is farmland and orange groves. On the drive out here we
got to stop at Florida's Natural factory visitors center. We got to
taste test orange juice. One of the members in my ward here works
there.

By the way, I absolutely love it here. The first day I knew that I was
home. I felt like I was with family, with people that I had just
barely met. Everyone is super old. Our area is HUGE! And we are on car
share with the Elders, so two weeks out of the month we won't have a
car, at all! And there are no sidewalks here. So that means unless you
have a death wish, you don't bike. And almost all of our investigators
are in the neighboring town about 9 miles away. It's a bit of a
challenge. But the members here are incredible and they are willing to
drive us anywhere that we need to go. I love the members. They
welcomed me in as if I had been here my whole life. My ward mission
leader is especially incredible. He does so much for us! For us as
people, and as missionaries. He wants us to be happy and taken care of
and he will literally do anything for us, no matter when or what. He
told us that someday his boys will be out on a mission and he hopes
that someone will do the same for them.

My companion is Sister Shaumkel. She is from Cali originally but she
has been living in American Fork for two years and that is where her
family is at currently. She is awesome! She came out on her mission
the transfer after me, so we both are pretty much on the same page. We
also had similar struggles with our last companions, so we are able to
be totally unified. We are able to teach with the spirit, work hard,
and have a blast while doing it. I haven't laughed this hard or this
much my whole mission. Honestly I am so happy right now in this place
that compared to this, I've been miserable my whole mission. I
wouldn't mind finishing my mission here in this place with Sister
Shaumkel. I'll cry if I'm ever transferred.

It's the perfect mix of small town and not so small town here. It's
enough to be quaint and adorable, and the people know all about
southern hospitality, but it's still big enough that there are people
to teach:) Speaking of teaching, it's so nice to have investigators
again! We have a baptism on Saturday. This girl is 21 and she has been
meeting with missionaries for over a year and she finally feels ready
to be baptized! She is so sweet and has such a strong testimony. I'm
so excited for her. We also have a ton of member referrals that we are
working with. Yep, you read that correctly, member referrals that are
actually interested in taking the discussions and coming to church!
It's so exciting!

It's also really different. Without all the challenges that I have
faced in my other areas, I also don't feel like I'm growing very much.
So it's interesting.

So funny story about the package you guys sent. It was actually a
blessing in disguise that they needed a signature. Because if they
hadn't it would have been left in the front office of our apartment
complex. If it had been there, I would have had absolutely no way of
getting it because it doesn't open until 10am. Transfer meeting
started at 10am, an hour and ten minutes drive away. BUT the post
office opens at 830. Heavenly Father is so nice.

It was still really stressful because transfer meeting was an hour and
ten minutes away, plus we had to be there ten minutes early, plus the
traffic on the bridge from St Pete to Tampa is horrendous. So how on
earth was I going to have enough time?! We got to the post office late
because of some struggles with getting our Toyota Corolla packed with
four suitcases, two carry-ons, two emergency backpacks and a bunch of
extra stuff, plus two bikes. It was an ordeal... So we got to the post
office ten minutes after we should have already left to Tampa, we walk
in to see ten people in line in front of us and only two workers. Come
on, it's only going to take two seconds for you to run to the back and
grab my package! So we wait, and wait, and wait. I didn't know whether
to wait in line longer or just forget about it and leave. But I
decided to wait. Finally I get to the front of the line, they get my
package and blah blah. But now we only have an hour for an hour and 10
minute long drive plus traffic. President is going to kill us...
Heavenly Father, please provide a way.

Now, believe it or not I can be a little speed demon when I want to
be, but we have a nazi in our car who is "affectionately" named Tiwi.
Tiwi yells at us if we go more than seven over the speed limit. And if
we don't "check our speed" as he says, we will get yellow dotted.
After a certain number of yellow dots, you lose your privilege to
drive. So speeding wasn't an option. I kept praying, please provide a
way, please. I decided not to stress, and to just leave it to God. It
was beyond my control at this point.

Less than 45 minutes later we pull into the parking lot where the
meeting was held, fifteen minutes early.

Heavenly Father loves us so much, and if it's important to us, it is
important to him. And miracles do happen.

So anyways, anyone curious where I am at? :) I'm in the middle of
nowhere, also known as Sebring, FL. We are as far east as our mission
goes. If we go outside of our area east, we will be in the Orlando
Mission. So I'm not by the beaches anymore, but there are plenty of
lakes around, like PLENTY.

I love it here so much, and I am so happy. Merry Christmas everyone! I
love you!

Love always, Sister Rowland

So this is my companion, Sister Shum-kul. The creepers in the back are

Elder Dardon, and Kevin (my adopted brother/Ward mission leaders son.
In the later pictures you can see the top of Elder Whaley's head and
Matt-Matt in the doorway, my ward mission leaders other son :) we have
fun.