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

Sister Rowland's District 

Weekly update: BOM Style :)

So i've been reading in the book of mormon, and i like the way they write letters... so here's my weekly update, Book of Mormon style:)

 

Behold, I direct mine epistle to my family, in the city of salt lake, utah. (and anywhere else you may be reading this from)

 

And now, my beloved family, i would like to tell you somewhat concerning the affairs that have been here, in the city of Tampa. Behold, my soul is filled with joy at the work of my brethren and sisters. For we have labored diligently in bringing forth the word of Christ and declaring repentance unto this people. we have been bold in declaring the word of god unto this people, even unto the baptizing of many souls. On the coming sabbath, a stripling warrior by the name of Jonathan will enter into the covenant of baptism and take upon him the name of christ. He is only fifteen years of age and he has sought valiently for the truth, even unto much studying and googling. While thus studying, he came to know for himself that this is the church of christ. He gained much knowledge, so much so that the lessons we teach him are merely a review. He has many questions and a strong desire to follow christ. Remember, remember, my family to pray for him continually that he may be able to withstand the temptations of the adversary:)

 

and behold we have seen much heat and sweating in our journeyings, nevertheless we have found many souls who have been prepared to accept our message.

 

In the week past, we met and conversed with the chief captain, President Cusick. Therefore he counseled much concerning our sugar intake. He warned us against getting too fat, and told us that we must exercise longer in the mornings if we are to eat cookies and ice cream. Behold, this is his counsel to many and all who will hearken unto the sound of his voice, for his concern is great regarding our physical condition. behold he said many things more which can not be written at this time. but it sufficeth me to say that he has a great love for his people, and there is much that can be learned from his example which he hath set forth. (sidenote: when we were in the zone conference a few weeks ago, elder clark told us that often when they are making missionary assignments they send someone to a certain place because of the mission president and not necessarily the area. i feel like thats the case for me! hes exactly the kind of mission president i need!)

 

There is not much more that i can write to you at this time, for behold this week has been kind of uneventful. Nevertheless it hath been a tiring week, and my heart is full of gratitude for the chance i have to nap today:) Behold my heart is full of much joy despite the afflictions we have seen, and i know that i am doing the work that i have been called to do. Transfer calls are this coming saturday, and the outcome of that day is unknown to us but we fear that there may be many changes that will take place. I will tell thee of these changes in mine next epistle.

 

Behold, I am sister Rowland, and i have been called to bring forth this work unto the people of tampa and have sought to labor diligently among them. I have found much fulfillment in this, and i would exhort thee that thou wouldst take upon thee the challenge to declare this message unto those who are near thee. For behold it will greatly bless their lives and bring to pass much happiness and joy to both them and to thee.

 

Now i close my epistle. I am sister rowland, missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 

(that was fun!!)

Happy Birthday Carter!

We received this in a text on Saturday! 

4 Months!!

Hey family!

Wow have i really been out four months? it kind of blows my mind... but in a good way:) This will probably be a pretty short email because this was a pretty slow week:)

We had just about EVERY lesson fall through this week so we did a whole heck of a lot of walking and sweating:) we decided that either heavenly father has someone really special in store that he wants us to find and we havent found them yet, or hes just keeping us humble:) maybe a little bit of both! But even though its been slow, it has been a really good week. even though we only taught five lessons this whole week, we went home feeling fulfilled! being fulfilled is a good feeling and its one that i wish i had worked harder to feel before my mission. but because we have been showing our faith by walking and walking and walking... and a little bit of knocking, heavenly father lets us know hes proud and he appreciates the effort! the other sisters serving in our ward made up a little jingle about our experince (i wish i could sing it for you) but it goes like this: "everything be falling through, fallin through.. we be knocking doors, DOORS! they're empty houses!" its pretty fun and its been our theme song this week:)

we did have some fun things this week though! on saturday we went to a luau that our complex put on and it was SO effective! We did the cupid shuffle and afterwards everyone was coming up to us and asking who we were! and then we got attention because we were walking around drinking capri suns while everyone else had beers and margaritas:) we didnt even think about it! but we stood out:) who knew that we could be an example of the believers by drinking capri suns!

oh and we have this one investigator who is totally awesome! he is fifteen years old and he was watching the south park that talks about mormons and he got curious so he looked us up! and then he requested a book of mormon so we took one over to him and he told us he really likes our church! and he came on sunday and loved it! his mom isnt too interested but she totally and completely supports him in whatever he wants to do! So thats fun:) we have a few other investigators that could be really solid we have just been having trouble seeing them, so hopefully that will turn around a little this week!

so i just wanted to share some of the changes that have been taking place in our mission and many others, because these things are such a testimony that this work is really hastening! So first of all we have been told to introduce ourselves and missionaries whose purpose is to help people prepare to be baptized.. like on the street, right when we meet them, that is the first thing that comes out of our mouths! second, we have been instructed not to set baptism dates more than two months out. so if they cant be prepared for baptism in within 2 months, we have to stop meeting with them. (the ogden utah mission has said within 3 weeks). And if we are teaching people and they arent progressing, meaning they arent keeping commitments, we have to stop meeting with them. If members arent keeping commitments, we have to stop going over there. If less actives arent keeping commitments, we have to stop meeting with them. It seems harsh, but its an exercise of our faith. if they arent progressing, they arent prepared, and we need to be spending our time out finding those who are prepared! and if these are what we have been asked to do, it must mean that there ARE people who are so prepared that they can be baptized in a month! We have to keep our lessons under 30 minutes and we should wherever possible meet with people 3 times a week. people, this is urgent! This work is speeding up and taking off, are you on board? This is such an exciting time:)

well i love you all so much! and hope you have an awesome week:)

love always, sister rowland

WHAT A WEEK!! :):)

We both got packages on the same day!!

Hey family:)

I've been super excited all morning to be able to email! this week has been so amazing! seriously, the best week of my mission so far:) Its hotter 'n hades, but who cares! On tuesday, last week, we had a zone conference training thing and it changed my life! Elder Clark of the seventy came and did the training and it was so awesome! We learned so much, and we went home and cleaned up our act and the miracles have been pouring out ever since!

First change we made: we cut out dinner and lunch. We grab and go, and pack a dinner (so pretty much we have sandwiches for dinner every day.. but its still good!). That adds almost two hours to our proselyting time. and now we are making an effort to be "9:30 Missionaries". We have to be in at 9 every night unless we are teaching a lesson, so we have been making an effort to have a lesson at nine every night! so that adds another half hour. You think we'd be left with a bunch of free time, right? NO! because Heavenly Father blesses us when we try. and we have been so busy the last few days that we dont even have time to ride our bikes! we have had to take the car every day so that we can see everyone that we need to!

Second change: we changed our perspective. We decided to have faith and believe that Heavenly Father really is preparing people. I came into this area and saw that there hadn't been a baptism in months. Tampa is supposedly the hardest area in the mission, and gets the fewest baptism. When they told me that, I believed them! and what a mistake that was! Because once i accepted that, it became truth. Because i settled, I wasnt excercizing my faith! so we decided that tampa is now the easiest area in the mission, and will soon have the most baptisms. And we currently have six investigators with a baptism date set, and hopefully, eight more by the end of this week! So the mission average for baptism per missionary per year is 2.2... and its been that way for over 20 years!! why? because we just accept that! and if we get three baptisms, we see ourselves as over achievers and quit trying! we are SO living below our potential!

Third change: we decided to rely more on Heavenly Father to lead us. If ever we have a spare minute, we stop and pray and ask where he would have us go, and EVERY TIME we have found someone who is super prepared! We got 8 new investigators this week! and met plenty more people that we get to go follow up with this week.

Fourth change: we have been asking everyone for referrals! For every person that we forget to ask, we have to do five pushups at the end of the night! My arms are pretty sore... but now, everytime i wave goodbye to someone my sore muscles remind me to ask for referrals so it works! :) and we have been getting referrals left and right! sometimes from other people that we havent even asked yet!

and there are plenty more changes and the miracles are showering!

Elder Clark also said something that changed me, he asked everyone to stand up who has someone in their family who is inactive or is not a member. EVERY missionary in the room stood up. He then went around the room and asked everyone (over 200 missionaries) who it was and what they would do to have them accept the gospel. And we all agreed that we would do anything to have our family members accept it. Why? Because we want them to be with us in Heaven. Then he said "Every person that you pass on the street is someones brother/sister/father/mother/etc. What will you do for them?" Tears broke out around the room! i realized how selfish it is of me to walk past someone on the street because I'm afraid or it feels like an awkward situation. What if that was my family member? Wouldnt i want someone to say something! wouldnt i want someone to at least try! of course i would, and i hope and pray every day that someone IS trying to help my family to become part of our eternal family! So now, I try to never walk past anyone without invited them to do something.

You guys, Heavenly Father truly has come through for us this week and my heart is just overflowing with joy! I feel like Ammon! "There never were [sisters] that had so great reason to rejoice as we... and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God...now if this is boasting, even so will a boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation... blessed be the name of my God!"

I love you all so much:) and i hope you have an incredible week!!

Love always and forever, Sister Rowland