Tuesday
March 11, 2014
… My own testimony of the temple
was strengthened tonight. I was actually praying for that when I was
at the temple last time, and I sort of expected to have some kind of
amazing experience that day in the temple, but I didn't. Instead I had
an amazing experience today, when I least expected it. Perhaps I
needed it more today than I did when I was asking for it. I just felt
so much love from Heavenly Father tonight and so much love for the
temple. I felt a little snippet of the joy I felt my first time going
through. I'm grateful for the tender mercies Heavenly Father gives me
as I try my best to serve his people here in Maryland. I also gained a
testimony of the power of the visitors center and the sister
missionaries within. It was humbling to see how our lessons at the VC
can impact the lives of others, missionaries included. I feel so
honored (and sometimes overwhelmed) to be a visitors center sister. I
get to represent the temple and the joys that are within.
Wednesday
March 12, 2014
We went to red robin today and yep, I was asked if I wanted a kids
menu. Story of my life.
Thursday
March 13, 2014
Elder Alca gave a workshop on Facebook today and I felt
that I'm not living up to my potential as an
online missionary. I've been feeling that way for quite some time now,
but today I really saw some things that I can do better. I'm grateful
to know I'm not alone though, even the greatest missionaries I know
are struggling to do their best with online proselyting. We're all
trying to figure this out together. The biggest thing I gained from
that workshop was that Heavenly Father knows best. The times that I've
sincerely prayed to know what to do with my FB time, have been the
most productive and rewarding. Today I learned that it's not just a
one time prayer, but instead it needs to happen every time I prepare
to go online. Because the online world is so vast, there are so many
ways we can spend our time, and only Heavenly Father knows exactly how
sister Rowley should be spending her FB time on any given day - not
elder fletcher, not elder Alca, not elder Miyasaki, not even president
Cooke! Heavenly Father is preparing specific people for me to help and
only He can lead me to them. Elder Alca reminded us that if we want to
see success in our areas, we must involve our members. We cannot
successfully do this work without their help.
I've been really struggling (how many times can I use that word
today?) with leading companionship study, especially when we plan for
someone. I feel so inadequate. It's one of those things where I wish
there was a how-to manual to read, but instead I'm being forced to try
and fail and try again only to feel like I failed again. Thinking of
being a trainer someday gives me anxiety. We really hit some walls as
we were planning for our plan of salvation lesson with Jeff tonight. I
often feel uninspired and end up lacking confidence in my skills and
in my knowledge of the things I'm supposed to teach. I get defensive
and start blaming it on the fact that I've never taught this lesson
before. I also fall into guilt traps where I feel as though I didn't
study long enough of hard enough to know the material well enough. I
suppose this will be an opportunity to rely solely upon the spirit
because I really don't have the capabilities in my own.
Saturday
March 15, 2014
Sis Fifita and I tried something different on FB today. We haven't
seen the fruits yet, but we tried looking for Christian groups or
religious hashtags in an attempt to find new investigators online. We
messaged at least 6 random people so hopefully something comes of our
attempt to do more as online missionaries.
You're going to love this... Once upon a time Sister Fifita and I
walked into a Mexican bar. We were looking for somewhere to eat dinner
tonight and our gps told us there was a la frontera nearby so we
decided to check it out. This was me trying to find a certainly not as
good, but hopefully somehow good enough birthday smothered burrito. We
walk in, fail to notice our surroundings, and then sit down. When I
look the menu and see "restaurant and bar" i realize that the Mexican
men are all drinking beer and we are not where we should be. Sister
Fifita was the best. She was so quick to stand up and get us out of
there. Sometimes missionaries do stupid things, even 24-year old
sister missionaries... See what happens a when you let your stomach
make decisions and not your head. Somehow, someway I will find a
smothered burrito here in Maryland.
Tonight was stake conference and I had the neatest experience. We were
just sitting there, listening to a musical number and out of nowhere
an overwhelming sense of happiness just filled my soul. I was
legitimately happy to be here - here in stake conference, in Maryland,
in the YSA, with sis Fifita, on a mission. This is what it feels like
to be a devoted, happy missionary. This is how I want to feel for the
next 11 months. Tony Alvarez was at stake conference!! I had
never met him before, but his name had been mentioned multiple times
in multiple situations as YSAs in the stake were discussed. Pretty
sure sis busath had mentioned him a few times when she was serving in
quince orchard. He's a less active and apparently this was his first
time back to church in a really long time. We talked to the quince of
orchard elders and turns out he had posted on FB that he was at church
for the first time in forever and was so unexplainably happy! MIRACLE!
I'm learning that working with less actives is just as important as
working with investigators. They need our help, and most importantly
Christ, just as much as investigators do. There was a moment today
when sister Fifita and I talked about how excited we are to return
home and immerse ourselves in the same work only on the opposite end.
I cannot wait to be a member missionary when I get home!
Monday
March 17, 2014
… Yesterday morning we had the opportunity to get a special tour of the
temple from brother Todd, the security guy for the temple. I'm not
sure he's allowed to let us go through like that, but we got to and it
was super neat. It ended up being a huuuge group which may or may not
prevent future missionaries from getting such tours. It's usually just
the sisters who get a tour, but we were largely outnumbered by elders.
I finally got to see the baptistry and we got to see the brides room
and even things like the laundry room and offices. The best was the
beginning when we went up into the big meeting room that is at the top
of the temple. It was unlike anything else I've seen in my life. It
was so cool and you could tell that there was a special spirit there.
I feel pretty certain that Christ has been in that room. From there we
went to the top of the temple. I, Kylee Rowley, stood on top of the
tallest temple in the world. How many people can say that they've done
such a thing? Probably only the missionaries of the DC north mission
and a few others. We were there just in time to watch the sunrise. It
was indeed picture perfect. We got to see the celestial room from up
top, which was the best because everyone was quietest at this moment.
I walked away that day with a little
keepsake, some gold scrap from a spire that had fallen during an
earthquake or something (thank you elder porter).
Our snow day was cut short today (thank goodness)! We were able to go
to the library and FHE! We saw elder Alca and Hatch at the library and
then we went to the mall to eat dinner and guess who had the same
idea... Sis Fifita and I then walked over to lost knife, looking for a
former named Vincent. Turns out he moved, but the kid living there
give us his info so we could send the Spanish missionaries over. It
took us forever to find his house, and we had to ask for directions,
but had we been able to find it on our own, we wouldn't have met
Desmond and gotten his information for the French elders. He is
awesome and I am soo excited for them to start teaching him! He's from
Cameroon and has even read the BOM before! Except it was an English
BOM so it was hard for him to understand. I pray that the elders will
be able to help him. He was so great and definitely sees God in his
life. He's very appreciative of the creation and the beautiful world
we live in despite the wickedness and the crap everywhere. I continue
to find great joy in finding people for other missionaries to teach.
I'm so glad sis Fifita taught me how to find people and talk with
everyone. We've had more contacted referrals than ever before in my
mission! Being at the mall for FHE was kind of weird today. I felt
worldly, especially when journeys was playing a pinback song.
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
be member missionaries and tell me your stories! i want to hear about the work you're doing at home and the things you're learning in studies and whatnot!!! hope everyone has a great week! thank you for your prayers and your love!
love, sister rowley
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