Hey Family!

So transfers were this week! And I now have a beautiful new companion. Her name is Sister Day and she is amazing:) She is from near St. George and has been on her mission for a year. She and I have already been seeing so many miracles together and we are super excited for this next transfer!

We have been blessed to find so many humble and prepared people. It seems like everyone we talk to wants to hear our message and come to church! Our investigators are doing pretty well. One of them who was supposed to be baptized on the 27th has had to postpone his date for further notice, but he is still so ready and excited for his baptism. It is so fun teaching him because you just see the change in him every single time we meet with him. He is totally willing to meet with us every single day, he keeps the commitments without question or argument. Its only been a few weeks since we first met him, but there is such a difference in him. I know that the difference that we see is hope. He now has a hope for his future, that he really can change his life and move past his challenges and mistakes. That's what the gospel does for people. Its truly beautiful.

We have been knocking on a lot of doors this week! Our mission has set the standard of knocking on at least 30 doors a day. On Saturday we knocked on 74... I actually really like tracting, because you always feel successful. Even if every single of those 74 doors turn you down, which they did, you can feel successful because you are working hard and you are planting seeds. And behind one of those doors is a humble person or family who is truly seeking the peace and joy that will come from the gospel. And you may have to knock on every single door to find them, but it will be so worth it!

This week has honestly been so full of miracles that I don't even know where to begin... :)

Oh, so here's a fun faith-building story for you!

So there is a man in my ward here who was baptized in October. He started meeting with the missionaries about a year before that and he knew that the things the missionaries shared with him were true and wanted to be baptized. But, he was on probation and was told that he was going to have to finish out his probation before he could be baptized. His probation sentence was quite lengthy, but he was told in court that if he went to prison for 6 months that would satisfy his sentence. So this faithful and courageous man put himself in prison for 6 months so that he could be baptized sooner! Isn't that amazing?!

So I wanted to share with you all kind of a neat experience that we had at transfer meeting this week. President Cusick, before he announces transfers always calls up a few people to share their testimony. So just like he has done in the past he called up a few people to bear their testimony. At the conclusion of those testimonies he stood up and said that he would like to give us a few minutes to just sit in the chapel and ponder on our testimonies. The spirit in the room was almost suffocating!

As I sat there pondering on those things that I had come to know were true in the past weeks, I felt that I was in my own little Sacred Grove. I had learned that past transfer that the Atonement is so real, and it works. Even for me. Even for you. Sometimes it is so easy to tell others of the atonement and how it will help them, but its a little bit harder to believe that it can work for us. Sometimes we feel that once we have made a mistake, that's the end, and we can then never live up to our full potential. THAT IS A LIE. A complete and total lie. As a matter of fact, I have learned that sometimes the mistakes we make are just the boost we need to become who God needs us to become.

Alma the younger, for example, was called "the vilest of sinners". He completely rebelled against his family, the church and God and brought down a lot of people with him. That's a pretty big sin.

But the atonement of Christ worked on him, and he became one of the most powerful missionaries in the Book of Mormon and brought hundreds of people to Christ. I don't think that he would have been able to help so many people if he hadn't been so wicked and experienced so powerfully the healing of the atonement.

We really can be forgiven. I know that's true. Its not the end when we make a mistake.

As I sat in that Sacred-Grove-chapel, I thought also of other Sacred Groves in my life. Those places where my life has been changed forever. One of those Sacred Groves is my own bedroom. There have been many times when I knelt by my bedside in heartfelt prayer to my Heavenly Father and received an answer and guidance that changed my life. Another is a little bench in front of the Salt Lake temple where I used to sit and listen to music and read my scriptures before going into work. It was there that I decided that I couldn't settle for anything less that being in that temple someday. Our backyard was also a sacred grove where I would lay out on my blanket and study scriptures and conference talks. The list goes on and on. But I am so grateful for Sacred Groves in my life, for those powerful places that will always be close to my heart because of the experiences that I've had there. Florida is one of those sacred places to me, this ground is so precious.

I'm also grateful for the actual Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith knelt and prayed and sought for truth. I know that God and Christ truly did appear to him there. I know that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet and to restore Christ's church to the earth. I know those things without a shadow of a doubt and with my whole being.

I love you all so much and I hope that this week is filled with miracles for all of you!

Love always, Sister Rowland