The Weak Things of the World

Hey Family!

Can you believe it is July 20th already? This month is flying by... its honestly really scary. Transfers are this week, but I am staying put and so is Sister Day. So here goes my last six weeks! I'm sure for family and friends back home its really exciting and happy when your missionary comes home, but from the missionary's perspective. Its very bitter-sweet. I have really been appreciating the small things this week. Those things that I will never experience the same way again. I cry a lot about it. Its a good cry, its a grateful cry. Everything that happens on a mission is truly miraculous.

There is a poem that one of the missionaries shared in district meeting a few weeks ago. It makes me cry every time! Enjoy:

As I stare out the widow,

Tears still in y eyes,

I see the vision of those I love,

As we said our last good-byes.

The flight was long and tiring,

As two questions plagued my mind:

Do I want the life that's ahead of me,

or the one I left behind?

You see eighteen months is such a long time,

For going door to door;

In my reflection, I thought,

There must be something more.

I struggled off the plane,

looking for a friendly face;

When a man called President said,

"You've come to the right place!"

.....

I sit reflecting once again,

As this day is my last,

Please, Lord, it isn't fair,

The time went way too fast..

As I stare out the window,

Tears still in my eyes,

I see the visions of those I love,

As we said our last goodbyes

The flight was long and tiring,

As two questions plagued my mind;

Do I want the life that's ahead of me,

Or the one I left behind?

I don't know who the author is but I love it so much! The mission experience is indescribable.. and it does go by way too fast.

So pretty much this week has been incredible, and I want to share with you all a few miraculous experiences we had this week.

The first maybe wasn't so miraculous, but it was one of those experiences that I will probably never get again. On Saturday we were knocking doors in this neighborhood. Then randomly it started looking like it was going to rain (Florida has the most bi-polar weather ever!). But sometimes it just looks like its going to rain and then never does... and we really wanted to finish knocking this street. So we just kept going. Then it started to sprinkle... but we kept going. Then all of the sudden we hear this wall of rain coming up behind us and in seconds we are soaked through! There was nowhere to take cover except this very Twilight-esque forest. So we went to take cover in the trees. They helped a little but not very much. The rain just kept coming with little sign of it clearing up soon, we were already soaked so we just decided to walk in the rain to the church where our next lesson was going to be. We were a mess! Our clothes were soaked, our make-up a distant memory, but we were so happy. It was just so pathetically hilarious:) So we made our way to the church and rung ourselves out in the bathroom and taught our lesson and attended a meeting with our ward mission leader looking like wet cats and freezing our tails off!

The next experience... so you know how we walk and bike everywhere? And sometimes there is no one out on the street so it feels like we are getting hot, sweaty and exhausted for no good reason? Well, this week we had four different people come up to us in our apartment complex and say, "What do you guys do? We see you walking and biking everywhere, all day long?"

So we tell them what we do!

The third: So about three weeks ago we were tracting this street and we see in one of the drive-ways a car with a Utah license plate! That is a rare sight here in Florida. We were so excited to knock on that door but nobody answered! :( So a few days later we were in that same neighborhood to see an investigator and we decided to try that same door again. And there was a mom and daughter living there who, indeed, had just moved from Utah! We could tell that they knew who we were, but we couldn't tell if they were members or not so we just asked them if they ran into missionaries a lot in Utah. And then they told us that they are members but they don't go to church anymore. They had a bad experience and had absolutely no interest in ever coming back. We asked them if we could at least let the ward know that they were here and they said no. So we left them the church address and our phone number if they ever needed anything...

Then yesterday at church, the person who said the closing prayer said, obviously by the prompting of the spirit, that there was someone there today who was giving it one last try and he prayed that whoever it is would feel God's love and want to come back again. It was such a powerful prayer! Afterward I turned and started looking around to see if I could tell who it was. I saw through the chapel doors out into the entryway and on the couch I could see two people. I couldn't see who it was, but I had a pretty good idea. I asked my companion if she could see who it was and she couldn't. And we couldn't get out of the chapel because everyone was talking and visiting. Finally, we made it out and it was them! IT WAS THEM! THEY CAME. They came to give it one last try. And I honestly don't know what their experience was, and I don't know if they will come back. But I hope and pray that they will. And I hope that they did feel God's love for them.

And the fourth experience, to show that God really is aware of us. Yesterday at church, one of the members pulled us aside and began criticizing the way we had taught one of our investigators. He was honestly quite rude about it and Sister Day and I left church feeling absolutely no confidence in our ability to do anything. We went home and prayed really hard that Heavenly Father would help us through the day.

Last night we had a lesson with some recent converts, her non-member daughter, and some members, including two recently returned missionaries. We had dinner and played some family home evening games and then we taught a lesson. We taught the message of the Restoration because of the one non-member who was there. Family and friends, the spirit in that room was suffocating. I have never felt the spirit so strong, or felt so much love for one person my entire mission. Everyone in the room felt it! And it had nothing to do with Sister Day's and mine ability or inability to teach. But it had everything to do with the love that Heavenly Father had for this individual, and His love for my companion and I, and his joy at our efforts. Afterward, one of the returned missionaries came up to my companion and I and said, "That was a great lesson, you two teach really well together." Little did he know that was exactly what we needed to hear. Heavenly Father provided us with a perfect situation to teach us a few things

• the spirit is the true teacher
• we have been called by a prophet of God because of who we are, not because we are perfect teachers
• when you truly love the person you are teaching the spirit will be there and they will feel it
• we never need to worry about our inadequacies, because lets face it: we are all completely inadequate, but Heavenly Father loves us anyway and He will help us to get His work done.

The happiness, peace, and joy that we felt after that lesson was overwhelming. I am so grateful for our Father in Heaven's love.

There was a scripture that I came across in my studies earlier this week, before all of this happened. But it was perfect.

Doctrine and Covenants 35:13-14

"Wherefore, I call upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thresh the nations by the power of my Spirit. And their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their shield and their buckler; and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me..."

I know that I am weak, I know that I'm imperfect. But I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ make up for that, if we are humble and rely on them.

I read this story in a conference talk last week:

"There was a young piano student and his mother, wishing to encourage him, 'bought tickets for a performance of the great Polish pianist, Paderewski. The night of the concert arrived and the mother and son found their seats near the front of the concert hall. while the mother visited with friends, the boy slipped quietly away.

Suddenly, it was time for the performance to begin and a single spotlight cut through the darkness of the concert hall to illuminate the grand piano on stage. Only then did the audience notice the little boy on the bench, innocently picking out twinkle twinkle little star.

His mother gasped, but before she could move, Paderewski appeared on stage and quickly moved to the keyboard. He whispered to the boy, 'Don't quit. Keep playing.' And then, leaning over, the master reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.

In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us and whispers in our ear, time and time again, "Don't quit, keep playing." And as we do, He augments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created. He is right there with all of us, telling us over and over, "Keep playing." "

Keep playing, y'all :) You are who you are and where you are for a reason!

Love you!

Sister Rowland

Their Testament is in Force

Hey Family!

Hope you all are having a great summer! Can you believe that we are already almost halfway through July?? Its going by so fast! Its honestly kind of scary!

Its been nice and hot here:) I'm seriously going to die my first winter back in Utah. I freeze in 70 degrees! We have been working hard and seeing so many miracles and we are teaching some of the coolest people on the planet! I want to tell you about them:)

So first off we are teaching a 15 year old girl. She is the daughter of a less active who hasn't been to church since she was a teenager. The young women in the ward reached out to our investigator and her cousin who is a member and they started coming to church and activities and seminary. And now she wants to get baptized! We were talking to her at our lesson last week about how she can be an example to her family (her mom and three younger brothers). We committed her to have family prayer every day even if she is the only one participating. Yesterday at church her mom came, her two younger brothers came, and her 12 year old brother asked us if he could be baptized too. I am so impressed by her and her diligent example and her faith. She is so incredible.

Then we are teaching the 15 year old brother of the returned missionary in our ward. He has been in Puerto Rico with his dad for a few weeks but we have Skype lessons with him almost every day. (Thank goodness for technology!) He is reading the Book of Mormon every day and saying his prayers. He even lets us call him in the mornings and wake him up for a lesson during his vacation! How many 15 year old boys do you know that would be okay with that?!? We asked him this past week to talk to his dad about taking him to church in Puerto Rico and he wasn't too sure about it. He didn't know how his dad would react. But he told us today that he got the courage to talk to his dad and his dad said that not only would he take him to church but he would attend with him!

We are also teaching a newly wed couple from Chile. He is a less-active member and speaks little English. She is not a member and speaks no English! She wants to get baptized and they have already made it a goal to be sealed in the temple. As we have gone through the teaching process with her she has had some pretty incredible manifestations that this is the truth and that it is the right path for her and her family. Even though she doesn't understand English she comes to church every Sunday because she likes the way she feels when she is there.

We have another investigator with a Catholic background. His entire family is Catholic. And joining our church would mean turning his back on his family's religion and traditions. He is having a hard time making that decision but he is diligently praying and seeking his answer from God.

I could go on and on sharing the incredible stories of courage and faith and the incredible people we are teaching! I love them so much! I am so grateful for the privilege that it is to serve here and to work with them. So many people have to sacrifice so much when they learn of the truth of this church, but they do it!

I just want to let all of you know that I know without any doubt that this is Christ's church. I know that it was restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that we have prophets on the earth today to direct and guide us. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

I was studying in Doctrine and Covenants section 135 this morning. It talks about how the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith seal the testimony of the Book of Mormon and the truths of the church. Its a pretty powerful section and I would definitely recommend that you take a look at it.

There is a part that says,

"... the reader in every nation will be reminded that the Book of Mormon... cost the best blood of the nineteenth century to bring [it] forth for the salvation of a ruined world..."

That sentence punched me in the face when I read it today! I was reminded of just how precious the Book of Mormon is. Our entire knowledge of the Gospel is so precious. And it didn't come free. Joseph Smith wasn't the only one that gave his life for our salvation. There were many prophets and disciples before him. Not to mention the infinite sacrifice of our Savior. We simply cannot take what we have for granted.

We cannot take the Book of Mormon and the truths it teaches for granted.

We have to appreciate it, and read it and live it! If you have not come to know for yourself that the Book of Mormon is true, now is the time. If you have one, read it. And every time after you read kneel and pray and ask God if it is true, then wait, and listen. And God will reveal it to you through the Holy Spirit. If you don't have one, let me know. I will get you one!

It will change your life!! I promise!!

I love you all so much:) Have a wonderful week, be happy, and stay cool!

Love always, Sister Rowland

Declare with Unwearyingness

Hey Family!

This week has been a pretty great week!  A lot of biking and walking and sweating as usual:) There really isn't too much to report so I'm just going to cut to the chase and share some thoughts that I've had this week...

They may or may not connect or make any sense but here it goes! :P

Helaman 10:4

Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but has sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

3 Nephi 19:2-3

Yea, and it was noised abroad among the people immediately, before it was yet dark, that the multitude had seen Jesus, and that he had ministered unto them, and that he would show himself on the morrow unto the multitude.

Yea, and even all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus...

Jacob 5:71-74

Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might...

And thus they labored, with all diligence, according to the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard...

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

Okay, now let me see if I can tie this jumbled mess of thoughts together...

We know that God has a divine plan for us, and we know that a family is central to that plan. We know that marriage is between a man and a woman who can bring precious spirits to the earth and raise them up in love and righteousness. We know that families are under attack.

It's a testimony builder to me, thinking of the recent Supreme Court decision, that our last General Conference was completely centered on the family. I know that our leaders are truly inspired by God, and that if we heed their counsel, we will be able to withstand the evil in our day.

I have come, over the course of my mission, to have a very solid testimony that I am on a mission right now to prepare me to marry in the temple to a worthy priesthood holder and raise a strong family centered on the teachings of Jesus Christ. That is why the missionary age was lowered. That is how the Lord is hastening His work.

We have a responsibility to declare to the world our standard on families and the importance of families. We need to not be afraid to make our position known and to defend it. Those verses in the Book of Mormon have some words that I really like:

• Unwearyingness
• Immediately
• All the night
• Might
• Diligence
• Labor

President Eyring said, "You begin by holding up the Lord's standards clearly and without apology. And the more the world drifts from them and mocks them, the bolder we must be in doing that. "

Elder Holland said, "Be strong. Live the gospel faithfully even if others around you don't live it at all. Defend your beliefs with courtesy and compassion, BUT DEFEND THEM."

I know that greater power and spirit will come into our lives and our homes as we put in, not just a little more effort, but all of our effort in defending the Lord's standards for families. There are so many ways to do that, and any and every one of them is good. But I think the best thing we can do is resolve to do better in our own families. Love and show love more. Serve each other more. Read and pray together more. Spend more time doing quality things. Live the Gospel better, as a family.

It makes me think of Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty.

Alma 46:12-13

And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it- in memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children- and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins...

Its time to put on our armor and hold our banner high!

I commit to make marriage a priority when I return from my mission. I commit to settle for nothing less than marriage for time and all eternity in the temple of God. I commit to make child-bearing and raising a priority. I will not put my own restrictions on when or how many but trust in the Lord's will and timing. I will always make prayer, scripture study, and family time a priority. I will do all in my power to raise my family on the principles of "faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work and wholesome recreational activities." I recognize that my role as mother is divine and my sacred responsibility is to nurture my children. I commit to do my very best in all of these things.

I love the primary song The Family is of God:

God gave us families,

to help us become what he wants us to be.

This is how he shares his love,

for the family is of God.

I know that Heavenly Father loves us. His plan is for us to return to live with Him someday, as a family. I know that God will bless us as we defend and declare the standard He has set.

I love you all!

Sister Rowland

For Behold, I am God; and I am a God of MIRACLES

Holy Cow Guys!

I have so much to tell you, I don't even know where to start. This week is seriously the week of all weeks, and I will never forget the events that took place this week!

It has still been super duper hot and humid. And when its not super duper hot and humid, its pouring rain. And sometimes its both! There was one day this week when we were walking down the street, dying of heat, the sun was scorching and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. And then all of the sudden it just starts pouring rain!! We took cover under a tree but not before we were drenched from head to foot. (Funny side-story: there is a returned missionary in our ward and we are teaching his non-member brother. We biked over there one day this week and it was so hot! We walked into their house and they asked us if it was raining outside. Nope, just sweat. Just sweat.) We were talking about it though, and we realized how much strength we really do receive from God every day. We are told by people daily that we shouldn't be out in this heat. But we are and we are walking and biking between 10-20 miles per day. If we were normal human beings, we would be dead by now. But Heavenly Father gives us strength.

Okay, so I have to share with you guys the incredible miracle that happened to us yesterday. Prepare to have your minds blown and your testimonies solidified :)

SO yesterday, we had NOTHING to do all day. We literally were just tracting ALL DAY LONG after church. And we were less than excited to go out in the heat for nine hours. But God had different plans for us.

So headed out after lunch and started walking to stop by an investigators house. While we were walking we noticed two young boys across the street playing basketball. Normally we don't really talk to little kids, but something told us we needed to talk to them. So we went over and invited them to come play Tuesday Night Basketball at the church. They said they would ask their mom and so forth... so we head back to the other side of the street and there was a lady walking the same direction we were. She complimented our clothes and asked if the blouse-belt-skirt combination was a new style. We explained that it was a style in Utah where we were from. (No one in Florida wears belts with their skirts...) And it opened up the conversation for us to tell her why we left Utah and what we did as missionaries. As we shared with her she expressed how she had been wanting to be baptized forever but she had not been able to find a church that felt right. We invited her to take the lessons and prepare to be baptized and become a member of our church and she accepted! We set a baptism date with her right then and there!

Then we said our goodbyes and parted ways.

Not two minutes later, as we are walking down the street, two women roll down their car windows and yell across three lanes of traffic, "Are you missionaries?" We yelled back that we were and they told us to stay right there. So we did, as they proceeded to make a couple U-turns to get to where we were. I jokingly said to Sister Day, "Looks like someone else wants to get baptized too!" We laughed. We had just been talking the day before about how cool it would be if someone pulled their car over and asked us to be baptized.

So the car pulls up to us and the lady in the drivers seat introduces herself as a member from California. She was here visiting her mother who is very sick. The woman in the passenger seat said to us, "Maybe you can help me, are you on duty?" We realized from that comment that she must not be a member and we explained to her that we were always on duty and would love to help her! They pulled off into a nearby parking lot and we started talking.

The woman who was not a member is a sister to the woman from California. She lives here in our area and we were right, she's not a member. But she explained to us how she knows that the church is good and she has seen the blessings of it in her sisters life and that she is ready to join the church and become a Mormon. They had just been by the church to see if anyone was there that could help them, but no one was. They had given up and were out of ideas and headed home when they saw us walking down the street.

We actually had someone pull over their car and ask us to be baptized. THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Every missionary always jokes about that happening, and dreams of it happening. But it never does.

This experience left my companion and I speechless and tearful. The gratitude that we felt towards our Father in Heaven for allowing us to be a part of this special miracle was overflowing. We literally had nothing to say for a while as we walked to our next destination.

As we were walking, I was pondering and trying to figure out what we had done to deserve such a miracle. Then it hit me how prideful that thought was... we hadn't done anything to deserve it. We didn't deserve it. Heavenly Father taught me something very important:

Sometimes we talk about how exact obedience brings miracles. But that isn't exactly true, at least not the way we think of it. I used to think that if I was obedient then God would bless me for that obedience with a miracle. But it doesn't work that way. We don't, through our own efforts EARN miracles. That is a selfish and prideful thought. In reality what is happening is that Heavenly Father is constantly working miracles in our lives and in the lives of others around us. Every single event that takes place is a miracle and he miraculously moves us and places us in just the situations we need to have the opportunity to make to choice to return to Him. As we are obedient and do what we are supposed to we keep our covenants and with that we are promised the spirit to be with us. And that spirit leads and guides us to the places where those miracles are taking place, thus allowing us to be witness of and sometimes a part of those miracles.

 But we do not earn miracles through our obedience.

The miracles didn't end there. After a lot of walking and knocking, we were running low on water and decided to stop by a members home that was close by to fill up. Her non-member husband opened the door and allowed us to come in and fill up. Her son spoke up and asked us what we were doing at 6. We said that we would be tracting probably, and he told us to come back around six and they would feed us a nice homemade Italian meal. This was a miracle for many reasons: it gave us something to do at 6 out of the sun, and it also gave us a meal because we were out of food for the week and not sure what we were going to eat for dinner!

I know that God truly is a God of miracles and that if we are living the way we should, we will be able to witness those miracles daily. I am so grateful for a little black name-tag that allows me to see such grand miracles so often.

The mission is glorious.

I love you all and hope you have an incredible week and see tons of miracles!

Love always, Sister Rowland

Beautiful Feet

Hey Family!!

Hope you all are having a super fantastic week:)

This week has been strange but its been so good! It is getting so hot here, every time we walk outside it feels like we are melting! But its an adventure. You just get used to the smell, kind of. I feel bad for everyone that has to talk to us though...

Sister Day and I are having so much fun! And the work here is well... changing. Its not necessarily picking up or getting worse but its kind of taking a new route. We just had three missionaries come home in this ward in the last two weeks and they are so great! There was one day this week when we asked one of them to come to a lesson with us and he did but the people we were supposed to teach didn't show up. So he sat there and started calling as many friends as he could until he found one that was willing to meet with us! That is how missionary work gets done, my friends. I hope to be a returned missionary just like them! They have been working like crazy to find people for us to teach! Two of them served in Salt Lake! One in Salt Lake North and the other in the Salt Lake South.

We have been doing so much tracting this week, we have literally knocked on HUNDREDS of doors. We had a pretty decent sized teaching pool at the beginning of the week, and there were a few days where we had seven lessons scheduled. But EVERY SINGLE ONE cancelled on us last minute. It got a little bit discouraging. Our feet were so sore and we were so hot and tired and the only relief we would have had would be a lesson in some air conditioning, and instead they all cancelled and we were left to walk more and knock more. So after the third day of this same routine we decided that obviously we need to change something about what we are doing. We prayed a lot and got blessings from the bishop and we decided that we need to drop all of our investigators. We went from having 12 to 3. Its hard to drop people, but the simple fact is that they just aren't ready for the gospel yet, they aren't ready to commit. And somewhere in Lakeland there is somebody who would be baptized today if they knew where to find us. And our job is to focus all of our efforts on them.

Tracting is actually really fine. In spite of the heat and the bugs and the fact that most people won't even open their doors, you actually have some pretty neat experiences tracting.

Neat Tracting Experience #1:

We knocked on this guys door and offered to say a prayer with him. He said, I'm a Baptist minister, I will pray for you! And we kind of looked at each other and agreed. And he waved his hand in the air and said, "I bless you in the name of Jesus." We thanked him and he laughed and said, "okay now you can pray, but don't pray for me." He asked us to pray for people in the world who didn't know Christ and for children who were not being raised in good homes. So we did and the spirit was so powerful. After the prayer he told us that he had just been studying his bible and praying and that he had asked God some questions but he couldn't seem to find the answer. He said he was just about to give up for the night when we rang his doorbell. He said that through the words of our prayer he had received his answer.

He wasn't interested in learning more about the church, but we were able to be an instrument in God's hand to answer the prayer of a Baptist Minister. Two twenty year old girls helped him to get the answer that he had been searching high and low for.

Neat Tracting Experience #2:

Yesterday we were knocking doors in this neighborhood with little to no success. We got to this one house and the front door was open. We knocked, and nobody came. We rang the doorbell and nobody came. So we just kind of waited for a minute. Then this cute elderly gentlemen comes to the door and says, "You girls must be from Salt Lake! Come on in." We tried to hide our shock, nobody EVER invites us in. Even when we pray or have a good conversation with someone it is on their front porch. So we go into their living room and his cute wife is sitting in her little chair. They shared with us how the Elders used to come and visit them all the time, and how a long time ago they had been to Salt Lake and taken a tour of Temple Square. They are so cute!

We also have some pretty hilarious tracting experiences.

Hilarious Tracting Experience #1

Sister Day and I were praying with this man on his front porch. Sister Day was saying the prayer, and he interrupted her mid-sentence and said, "That's okay, at least you tried!" And went in and shut the door and left us in shock on his front porch. We laughed about it for hours!

Hilarious Tracting Experience #2

We knocked on a door, a man answered and we offered a prayer. He asked us what church we were from and we proudly said, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," And he says, "Oh, crap! Its the Mormons..." And he informed us that we were a cult and he had no interest in praying with us. He started to shut the door and we turned to walk away, then he poked his head out again and said, "And I bet you both want to marry me at the same time!" Sister Day spoke up and told him that we don't do that. He said, "Yes you do", and slammed the door.

Thank goodness for people who know more about our beliefs than we do ;)

Tracting is hard, but its honestly so fun. You get to meet the coolest, kooky-est, most interesting people.

Miracles happen. We often hear stories from returned missionaries about the miracles that happened to them on their missions. Some pretty huge and crazy! But I've really come to appreciate the small miracles that happen every day, those tender mercies that remind us that God is aware of us, He loves us and He is pleased with the work we are doing.

For example, when we are walking down the street, melting in the heat, and randomly a really cool breeze blows through, or a cloud covers the sun.

Or when we run out of time for dinner and someone offers us food.

Or the fact that our water bottles are never empty.

 When you walk and bike out in the heat and humidity, you go through a lot of water. Without fail, every time this week that our water got low, somehow Heavenly Father fills our water bottles. He doesn't do it in some super-natural way but he does it. Our water will be almost gone and a kind homeless man who sells water to buy his food gives us two water bottles for free. Or the lady at the house we just knocked on notices our almost empty water and takes and fills them with water and ice. Or we turn the corner and there is a gas station where we can go fill up. 

Our water bottles are never empty because Heavenly Father loves us.

Alma 31:37-38

And after that they did separate themselves one from another, taking no thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on. And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst...

I know that when we put the Lord and His Kingdom first in our lives, He will ALWAYS provide for us.

In my entire life, I have never been so tired, my feet have never been so sore and blistered, I've never seen so much disappointment,

and I've never been so happy as I am right now.

I know that this gospel is true. Every little bit of it. I can never deny it. And I can never stop working to help others to know for themselves that it is true. I am so grateful for my Savior who was probably even more tired than I am, whose feet were even more sore, who faced so much more disappointment and rejection, who did it all so that we could experience more joy than we could ever imagine.

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace"... No matter how sore, worn or blistered.

And how beautiful upon the mountains are those nail-pierced feet of the Prince of Peace who showed us all the way to eternal peace.

Have an incredible week! I love you all!

Love always, Sister Rowland

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

Few are Chosen

Hey Family,

Sorry for the lack of an email last week! We had a mission-wide June Christmas party on the beach. It was so much fun:) We basically just played all day. Then as the day wound down and the sun started to set it became much more sentimental. Sister Loveridge and I just stood and cried and talked about our mission and how sacred this place is. That was most likely the last time we would be on the beach in Florida as full-time missionaries.

This place truly is sacred ground.

I have so much to tell you guys! Two weeks worth, and both jam-packed with miracles!

The first person I want to talk about is a new investigator that we have started working with. He was a referral from a member in another ward. He called us up last Friday and asked if we could visit his friend. We called this friend and he told us to come over the next morning, so we did. We really had no idea what to expect! But the man we met was so prepared for the Gospel. He was going through a lot of hard things in his life, and he was really working to change his life. He asked all the right questions! He came to church the following Sunday and loved it. We committed him to be baptized at the end of this month. It has only been a week, but you can see the change in him. He is so happy now! His boys were over at his house this weekend and we gave them a children's book of Mormon and they have already read to chapter 12! They came to church and loved it too. I wish I could describe to you how much love I have for this cute family. They are incredible. The Gospel really does change lives.

The next experience that I would like to share with you is a perfect example of how we truly do not know how much good we do.

MTC Sisters 

So, I don't know if you remember or not, but a few weeks ago, in my email, I shared with you about a Friday that was really hard: no one was outside, we were feeling unmotivated, we lacked the courage to talk to people... Well, that day, we had prayed to know where we should go. And we felt like we should go to Target. So we figured that maybe we should go and contact people in the Target parking lot. We had been talking about how we wanted to get more courage to talk to people in parking lots, because honestly that is where most people are! So we went to Target and went inside briefly to use the restroom and fill our water bottles. Then we went outside and tried to contact people walking to their cars- it was a total flop. We didn't have the courage, the few people we talked to were in too much of a hurry to listen. So we gave up on that and left to our next activity.

Fast forward to about a week after this experience. We were walking to the church, and there are two ways to walk to the church that both take about the same amount of time, but one usually has more people out and about. But for some reason we felt like we should go the way where there usually isn't too many people. But both of us felt like that was the way to go so we did!... And there was absolutely no one outside. Not a soul. And it was really, really hot. Then we see a car pull up next to us and this lady rolls down her window. She said that she had seen us in Target a week ago and loved our warm smiles, they had made her day.

We didn't remember seeing this lady at Target, she definitely wasn't anyone that we had talked to. But she had noticed our smiles, and it touched her enough that even a week later she would recognize us on the street in a totally different area of town and stop us to talk to us.

You never know how much good you do.

This week is transfers. We found out that I will be staying in Gibsonia, but Sister Loveridge will be leaving. I am honestly so sad to see her go. She has become my best friend and my sister. I have never grown so much on my mission as I have with her. She has pushed me to be my best and together we have set goals and made changes that have changed us forever. We have seen so many miracles together. I am so grateful for this transfer that I was able to spend with her.

BFE's (best friends for eternity)

She shared something this morning in companionship study that hit me really hard. She was sharing the verse in Doctrine and Covenants 121:34

"Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?"

She and I discussed for a little while what it means to be chosen. The next verse describes those who are not chosen:

"Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men..."

How many of us are set upon the things of this world and the honors of men? I think it is really easy to get caught up in that. Its easy to get caught up in the things of this world, or wanting to be recognized and praised by man.

 But is it worth giving up our divine inheritance?

I have learned a lot lately about what exactly these "things of the world" are. They are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc, when these things are not used for spreading the gospel. They are movies and TV shows that make violence and immorality look normal and fun. They are movies and TV shows with humor that is crude or jokes made at another's expense. They are songs that direct our thoughts to anything but Christ and goodness.

Some of these "things of the world" aren't even necessarily bad... Or are they? I guess that is for the individual to decide. But I have decided that I can't take part in anything that does not bring me closer to Christ. Notice I said "can't" not "won't". With the knowledge that I have and the blessings I have been given I cannot go back. I cannot go back to the world. And that means giving up a lot of things that I love.

I've learned that we choose to be "chosen". God has promised glorious things to those who are chosen, and He has a great work for them to do.

As I look around at the world, I see many people who are called but they aren't chosen because they choose to set their hearts upon temporal and worldly things, they care too much about what the world thinks of them, rather than what their Father in Heaven thinks. Little do they know what they are forfeiting.

Let's read those scriptures again.

"Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men..."

Later on it tells us how we can choose to be chosen.

"Let thy bowels be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly..."

Then comes the promise; Heavenly Father never asks us to do something without promising something in return:

"Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever."

I know that Christ is our Savior. He lived for us, he died for us, and he lived again for us. I know that the only thing that we can give back to him for all he has done for us is our will. We have to CHOOSE to do so. I know that we show our love for God and Christ through our decisions on what will do with this probationary state he has given us. How will we use His time? What will we accomplish? Who will we become? Who will we help along the way?  And will we truly be prepared to meet God?

I am so grateful for everything that I have been learning. I have been changed over the past 7 weeks and I am a new person! Its exciting! Changing and repenting is so exciting. I hope you all have or will find change exciting too.

Love always, Sister Rowland

Florida storm

And the "sky" view