Hey Family!
It was super great to get to Skype you all yesterday. It feels like zero time has passed since I saw you at Christmas, yet I felt like a totally new person! I guess that's what the mission does to you. It's pretty great:) I have learned to embrace change because change changes us!
We had a pretty great week this week. It was hard because we had to stop teaching a lot of investigators for various reasons. So we are kind of starting over as far as our teaching pool goes but we did meet a ton of really great families this week!
So first off, I told y'all about the Find a Family in Seven Days thing, and I also told you how the ward council immediately referred us to the family next door to the church because they were pretty sure that they fit our description of a family of seven with twins. We were a little disappointed when we found out that they were only a family of six (well as disappointed as you possibly can be when finding a family of six.. which isn't very disappointed). But when we went over to contact them, their grandma was there and we found out that she is over at their house every day!! Making it a family of seven! We had such a great visit with them. We took a member, whom they apparently knew from soccer a few years back! We had no idea when we asked this member to come with us. We showed them the video It was Mom for mothers day and they loved it. They are such a good family, they have high morals, they are kind, and they literally live two seconds from the church! It doesn't get any more perfect than that! So hopefully we will be able to start teaching them this week!
We also met a super cute family while tracting. We had some extra time before a ward activity and decided to knock on all the doors around the church and invite them. We met some nice people, we also met some not so nice people... but no one was interested. So we were like, "Well we better get going back, but let's knock on this last door." (I know, this story is totally cliché). So we knocked on the door and this cute little boy answered. We asked for his mom or dad and this cute mom walked to the door with a baby on her hip and we offered to say a prayer with her family. She accepted and afterwards we talked about the Restored Gospel and how we can be with our families forever. She was very interested in that (who wouldn't be?) and we are going back this week to teach her!
On Saturday, we had the opportunity to go to a soccer game with one of the members. They are seriously the cutest family ever! While we were watching the game, and chit-chatting with the mom, Sister Loveridge asked her what made her marriage and family so strong. (Sister Loveridge asks this to people all the time, I love it. Its something that Elder Clark of the Seventy told us to do). She thought about it awhile and didn't really come up with an answer, but she texted us last night and told us that besides the classic "Christ-centered home" response, she feels like what makes marriages strong and successful is serving your spouse without expecting anything in return. She said that when we serve selflessly we come to see that person as Christ does and you are able to love them so much more. I am grateful for the opportunity to be paired with someone 24/7 so that I can learn and practice these skills that will make me a better wife and help me to know how to build a strong family.
We had a Specialized Training for the sister missionaries this week. It was SO GOOD! President Cusick addressed some concerns that are pretty unique to sisters. He also trained on how everything we are doing here on the mission is preparing us for after. There is basically no place, no program that trains you for life as well as a mission does and I know that's true. We listed out all of the things that we will be doing in the next 2-5 years and matched up to something that we are doing here that will prepare us for that. That really motivated me to take advantage of the time here on the mission, because this is the best place to learn those skills that will help me through life.
We also learned more about dress and appearance and looking professional. We got some beauty tips and clothing tips, it was lots of fun:)
With time running down for me here in the mission field, having less than four months left, I have been doing some careful evaluating. I've decided that I'm not going to be one of those missionaries that is in denial up until the plane takes off. I'm going to embrace the fact that the mission really does end, I really will go home and that time is going to come very quickly. The key is to not become distracted by that fact, but motivated by it. I want to come home completely changed, a new person, and I want to stay strong. I don't want to go back to old ways and old habits. I want to go forward. And the only way that is going to happen is if I give it my all here.
I know that families really are forever. I am grateful for all of you. I'm grateful for the member families here on my mission that model how to have a strong gospel centered family. I'm grateful for the families that I am able to introduce to the gospel here in the mission field. I'm grateful for my future eternal family. And I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior who made that possible.
I know that this gospel is true, and when we center our lives on it and live it every day, we will have peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come, with our families.
I love you all and hope you have an incredible week!
Love always, Sister Rowland
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