pitbull snot, 7 months, and the power of online proselyting

I'm so grateful for mom and dad, for the way they live their lives and the way they love each other. I feel like I don't have to worry about them while I'm out here. Other missionaries aren't so lucky. One recently received a letter from home letting him know that his parents were divorcing. I can't imagine hearing something like that as a missionary, missions are hard enough as it is! So thank you mom & dad,
I love you.

I had this dream a while back, but somehow forgot to write home about it. The YSA group was being shut down, and someone super special came to break the news to me... President Monson! We were driving in the car together and I was just devastated when he told me. From that point on, the dream pretty much consisted of me and president Monson crying together in a car.

Did I tell you about the articles of faith family? When they invite the missionaries over for dinner they don't let us eat until we've first passed of an article of faith. How many of them do I have memorized right now? Three. Only ten more to go in the next 8 days. Emailing last week helped me so much. Writing it out helps me see the bigger picture, the eternal perspective. It's a de-stressor and a way for me to communicate with you, with myself, and even with Heavenly Father. I've also decided that they perfectly chose Christmas and Mother's Day to be the days we Skype home, because I've reached that point since last time where I need that again. Maybe it's just me, but I need that call home just as much (if not more) than you guys.

Funniest tracting story yet (and yes, we tract pretty much everyday of our  lives here in Kentlands): We were tracting in an apartment building where there are windows to the right and above the doors, like a whole level up. So we knock on a door and hear this little dog growling at us. Oh how I wish I could record myself mimicking the puppy pitbull making his little growl/nose blow sound. It was hilarious. So sister Chapman points him out and i look up to see him and then he  like blows out his nose and what do i get for looking.... a whole face covered in pitbull snot. not my kind of rain. but wait, it gets better. we walk away laughing hysterically, only to experience something ten times more awful. we knock on a door and the guy cracks open the door. i'm on the left side so i can't really see much, but sister chapman get's the perfect view. he said he was busy, and that now wasn't a good time so i pull out a VC passalong card and invite him to visit us sometime. he was acting super weird and i wondered why someone so rushed would answer the door. we walk away and  she tells me that she's pretty sure he was naked. yep. gave a passalong card to a naked man. why he answered the door, i still don't know.

Chat at the VC has been awesome!!! I've been waiting every transfer to have the chance to chat,  and finally it's been here! the calling system has been down, but not really (i'll tell you that story next). oh how i love love love chat. i feel in my element there and i feel like it's so much easier to find the right thing to say when somebody isn't staring at you and expecting the perfect answer right then & there. we sent missionaries to Estonia and met someone named Liz who should have been baptized this week!
and then add the fact that we're facebook missionaries and it gets ten times cooler! we were able to connect with liz immediately so we can keep up with her and continue to encourage her!.

Power of online proselyting. chat gets a lot of pranks though. we had a weird guy who repeated  everything we said. here's how that conversion went:
sister chapman - hello! how can we help you?
mitt: hello! how can we help you?
me: is this your first time chatting with missionaries?
mitt: is this your first time chatting with missionaries?

me: hi, my name is mitt and i would like to meet with missionaries so i can learn more about the gospel and grow closer to my savior, jesus christ.
mitt: hi, my name is mitt and i would like to meet with missionaries so i can learn more about the gospel and grow closer to my savior, jesus christ.
and the conversation went nowhere, but i thought i was being clever :)

the calling story. oh gosh. so we haven't been calling for the past 2 1/2 weeks because it's "been broken" turns out all we had to do was switch the browser from chrome to mozilla and also turn on a little button on the phone. that's it! i feel so bad because i haven't been able to call lois or cliff for so long!!
i had SO many lessons about prayer this week. soooo many. obviously i'm struggling with something and heavenly father is trying to help me out. S Truman's workshop about prayer was perfectly created for me. something i need to work on, is praying for what heavenly father wants, not what i want. i need to align my will with his and pray with sincerity and real intent. always easier said than done. something she said that really really pierced my soul was this, "If you don't feel like praying now, then pray until you do". i can't even begin to tell you how many times this week i didn't want to pray. it's embarrassing, especially as a missionary, that prayer is the last thing i wanted to do this week on numerous occasions. have i let satan seep into my heart that much? the thing is, there is no other way to overcome my issues, than to lean on the lord in prayer. why am i so stubborn? why do i so often refuse to reach out to him? even sacrament meeting was about prayer. during the sacrament i started going through some things i need to work on and i started asking heavenly father how i will know if he forgives me? how will i know that i'm still doing my best? and then the answer came as i started reading a talk from the october 2010 conference - "he teaches us to put off the natural man" by juan a. uceda. i feel like i'm suuuuper struggling with putting off the natural man. super struggling. i even miss petty things about home like instagram, music, tv, books, and my time to be lazy and alone. the talk starts by telling this story that i related far too much to. a story of a young girl who didn't want to participate in family scripture study and had the attitude to show it. and then it starts to talk about prayer. after not wanting to pray for the past few days, the topic of prayer continuously comes up. help from above. the first talk was also about prayer. i know what i need to work on for this week.
i've had a few run-ins with some YSAs this week and it has been awesome! AHHH, i miss ysa sooooooo much. i feel like i can teach them way easier than i can kids & adults. we met chad, who we're pretty sure is a less active YSA who should be going to the seneca singles! he was AWESOME! and we were able to add him on fb! Three cheers for online proselyting. we also taught david latarte a lesson, but he's ysa so we will be passing him to the elders.

Daniel  is on date!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!?!? June 22! i facebooked sister mendenhall to ask her how it went and she replied letting me know he's going to get baptized! So so so excited for him! I so want to be there. Proof that it was right for us to pass him. again, power of online proselyting.

We had dinner with Mary Ellen and there was just so much love! I was able to tell her now much I love them and how they've been exactly what I needed here in Kentlands. Hearing Mary Ellen tell me that Rick said I have the biggest and prettiest eyes and that you can just see my soul shine through my eyes was so cool. I think I have a new answer for if anyone ever asks me what my favorite physical feature is about myself. i will forever love these two and i am so excited for their baptism on mother's day. oh how you will love them when you meet them. i have to move on now, because i'm going to start crying if i keep talking about how great they are. we're going over for dinner again with them tonight!

i hit my 7 month mark this week. 7 full months. sometimes it still feels slow, and other times i can't believe it's so fast. i still have random moments where i feel like i'm living in a dream and i can't believe that i'm actually here, serving as a missionary. brother mark lusvardi came to the vc this week to give us a special training. oh boy, was it amazing. humbling - in that these are all things i need to work on - but i suppose that is what training is for. he is the guy who is over all the VCs and he is just so great. here are some really cool statistics he shared with us: more than 5 million people watched that #becauseofHim video the church put out for easter -- 1.9 million came to mormon.org because of it -- 6,998 of those people were engaged in meaningful chats with missionaries (ME!) -- isn't that amazing?! the church is online, and it is awesome!!!

the sisters lounge at the vc is infested with ants. i swear they are coming up out of the disposal and it is awwwwwful. #lifeofavcmissionary

we met a girl named Jan from Thailand!! oh wow, she is amazing. so she's 17 and we met her at the vc. she was in the bom kiosk so we just walked up and started talking to her. it was super spiritual and we were able to bear testimony multiple times. as we were telling her the bom is true she looked at us and just said, "it's true. i believe you" we tried to get missionaries sent to her, but her english wasn't the best and it wasn't working out. we knew she was ready, so we grabbed her a bom in thai and added her on facebook - ONLINE INVESTIGATOR!! again... the power of online proselyting. the miracle of online proselyting. how else would we have had the chance to stay in touch with her and make sure that eventually missionaries reach her.

big news..... president cooke and the eyrings have asked me to.... dun dun dunn.... CREATED A WEBSITE! so this is something they implemented back in chile, where david archuleta served (who may or may not be coming here to perform in the fall). the idea is that people can sign up online for our performances at the vc and in doing so, they must provide their number, address, and email to ensure they get a ticket and also ensure that we get a list of potentials to teach the gospel to!! so many people come to our concerts without us missionaries getting the chance to talk with them. well now we will have the chance, and the missionaries in each area of where these people live will have the chance. i am super terrified to design this though, because i have NO idea what i'm doing, but president cooke insisted that i do it. i think they think i know more than i really do. but, it's going to be fun and i love online stuff, so here's to a new adventure for the next few weeks!
let it be known that ward parties in the family ward are suuuuper awkward. ysa is where it's at. i don't feel weird doing things with them, here it's just super weird. we stand off to the side looking like fools who don't know who to talk to.
we went back to an apartment complex where we met a guy that we never  got the name of. we were calling him guy for so long and we finally went back and got his name! brian!! he remembered us and i actually felt bad that we hadn't gone sooner. his name is brian and he's the single dad that mary told us about. we have a return appointmentTOMORROW AFTERNOON!!! pray for him & pray that we teach what he needs most.

tracting all the time means we meet a lot of great people, but also a lot of not so great people. the other night a lady opened the door... "you need to let people decide for themselves, stop proselyting". The only thing we had said to her was hello
the Washington post filmed the opening prayer in our ward on sunday! apparently there is a national prayer day? they got permission from the first presidency to come in and film the opening prayer. it was awesome because the lady who prayed basically taught a first lesson and it was just so so cool! maybe we'll get some more mormon.org chats because of it :]
we showed Mary Ellen and Rick the baptismal font after church sunday! Mary Ellen had typed up their list of who to ask to do what at their baptism and she had put sis chapman and I as witnesses for her baptism. So sweet of her to want to include us that way! We of course told her that they have to be priesthood holders. i so wish i could have taken a picture of that, so instead this is my mental snapshot so i will always remember!

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! thank you for all that you do!
i'm here because of you, so thank you.
love, sister rowley

pics of the week

miracles & cooking failures [part 2]

Sunday
April 13, 2014
We're fasting again today, this time for the 40 day fast that the
whole mission is doing. It's a process of purification that allows us
to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. We were given a
talk to read that talks about the experience an elder had with the 40
day fast as a missionary himself. He was taught this process of
purification by one of the prestigious leaders of the church - the
paper doesn't specify who, but for some reason my mind keeps picturing
elder holland. We fast today and make a list of all things the spirit
pokes at us to write down. We then go on a 40 day fast and refrain
from all things on our list. We covenant with Heavenly Father every
morning, that we will avoid all the things on our list. We try our
best, we rely on The Lord, and then we go through our list at the end
of each day. We pray again, specially addressing everything on our
list, what went well and what did we not do? Why didn't we do it? What
can we do to change? The article we were given to read tells us about
the experience this elder had. The temptations will become that much
stronger, satan does not want us to reach this level of purification.
But the end result is amazing. This elder reached a point where he had
quite literally done ALL he could and then handed the rest over to
God. The stories he tell are amazing, and far better told by him (I'll
try to take a picture of it of something and send it to you), but it
was apparent that the spirit was his CONSTANT companion. He said
things he would have never said otherwise, and the result was eternal
salvation for many. Our mission has been struggling with baptisms and
having people on date, so doing this together is definitely inspired.
I'm positive that we will see mission miracles because of this 40 day
fast. I think the iPads might have something to do with our decreased
in baptisms. I think they are still very much a distraction for us.
I've discovered that we rely on our iPads instead of our scriptures,
testimony, and even preach my gospel. We need to use our iPads in
addition to three other sources, and these other source must always be
priority in the life of a missionary.

Monday
April 14, 2014

the wangs didn't come to church. i was really sad about it at first, but i had a small moment where the spirit told me it was okay. It was very fleeting and very quiet, as most encounters with the spirit are. We had fasted for them and i started to wonder why. what was the point of fasting if did nothing? i was able to (for the 50 millionth time) recognize the power of agency. the spirit told me it was okay, that this will be a step by step process with the wangs. as sister fifita would say, "slowly but surely". they made a huge step in allowing us to come over for dinner, telling us their conversion story, talking about the temple, and brother wang made an even larger step when he said the closing prayer that night, acknowledging that they need to come back to church and asking for that help. slowly but surely, the wangs will come back.

there are jews EVERYWHERE in kentlands. e v e r y w h e r e. very rarely do they kindly talk with us. most of them peak through their window, see our nametags, and say they aren't interested - often times in very mean tones.

once upon a time sister rowley wanted to make mac & cheese for her and sister chapman. and then the entire process, from start to finish, was an epic fail. bought at 16oz box of noodles instead of 8oz, thought we could just make double and have tons of leftovers so we pour it all into a pot that we're pretttty sure everything will fit into.... false. overflowing pot of pasta. so we split it up and try two. one of the other pots doesn't even heat up. so we make one batch and then make the other batch. i'm eating what i think is cooked noodles only to discover they are the half cooked noodles. put everything into a bowl, double the cheese & milk & salt --- oh wait, we don't have salt! who needs salt when you have greek seasoning?... it has salt & pepper in it as main ingredients, it should be fine! put suran wrap over the top? oh wait, we don't have suran wrap, let's just use a paper towell. microwave for 3 min, stir, 2 more min, stir until it gets creamy. when will it ever get creamy? NEVER. it was awful. it didn't necessarily taste awful, but it was super stringy and the cheese definitely didn't spread evenly over all the pasta. but wait, the tragedy isn't over yet. totally forgot to put it in the fridge before we left so we had to throw it out when we got home. as i go to throw it in the trash it falls out of the container all over the kitchen floor. sister rowley for the win! hey, at least i'm a cooking disaster here instead as a newlywed! we were at mary ellen & rick's last night for dinner and turns out i don't know how to do something as simple as cut carrots, i failed to ask for a peeler & mary ellen looks at me and starts laughing and asks if i'm going to peel them. and then i was using the knife wrong & everything. this is why i stick to baking.
okay, mary ellen & rick... they are AMAZING!!!!! they were tracted into right before we got here in october. they are as golden as they come. oh my goodness, i love them so much! rick looks like he could be a bishop and mary ellen looks like the world's best YW or RS president. they get baptized on mothers day!!!! it will be so neat to be there and i'm so glad i have this opportunity to get to know them. when you guys come get me, i definitely want to introduce you to them. i was nervous that they wouldn't like me that much, just because they've worked with so many other missionaries and they have a special place in their hearts for the sisters who found them, but i feel as though i'm hanging out with another set of parents when i'm with them. i have so many great proxy parents out here, the cookes, the VC couples, everyone is just so great! i am so blessed!

okay, mehdi. mehdi is our miracle find! It's amazing how everything worked out so well when we met him. We had been tracting for awhile by then, and we had walked away from a few houses without being as bold with our invitations as we could have been. We didn't teach doctrine and we sort of shrunk when they threw out their "no". Right before going to Mehdi's house, I told Sister Chapman that I didn't want to do that again, I didn't want to let one more person slip by without teaching them something about the gospel! We knocked on Mehdi's door, introduced ourselves, and got the "I'm not interested in religion" answer. I refused to let that stop me. We continued talking with him and acknowledged what he said, but left him with an invitation anyways - one that was bold. We left him with a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it. His response was so much more than I could have ever hoped for... he PROMISED to read it! We didn't get a super solid return appointment, but he did say we could come back. It's amazing how we are able to progress with each doorstep and each person we meet. It's as if Heavenly Father gives us the opportunity to fine tune ourselves all night, so that by the time we knock on that one elect door, we're ready. We went back in that neighborhood the following week to give someone else a family proclamation. Afterwards, we saw a man working in his garden and decided to see if he needed any help. Turns out it was Mehdi!!! We didn't realize we had tracted that far down on the other side of the neighborhood!!! Heavenly Father was giving us another chance to get that solid return appointment. We're going back Tuesday night!! We found out that he hasn't started the Book of Mormon yet, but his wife has!!! We are so excited to go back and look forward to talking with his wife and teaching them about the restored gospel and the happiness that comes from following Jesus Christ!

i had a really neat experience with my latest blog post (fill your vase). it sort of just flowed right out of me. the response was more than i could have hoped for or expected! people were commenting & sharing the post! even commenting on the blog itself! it was just amazing. heavenly father has been really blessing me and helping me with my blog lately.

guess what! the RS president in my new ward and her husband both graduated from jordan high!! beetdigger pride all the way here in maryland!

sister chapman and i decided that missionaries are professional stalkers, now online. we dropped by the FROG yogurt shop this week in hopes that we would find the iqbal family. no luck. okay, so maybe we tried 3 times. see, professional stalkers. and yes, we also stalked them online (yay FB!).

3 nephi 12. that was my favorite thing i learned and studied this week. i was studying it sunday morning, the day we started our 40 day fast and it just went so perfectly along with this idea of purification! i love when things like that come together. i love being a missionary, truly love it. i love you all and look forward to some letters & emails this week - my mailbox has been sad & lonely :]

love,
sister rowley

MIRACLES & COOKING FAILURES [PART 1]

Thursday
April 10, 2014
I've been in the Kentlands area for about a week now, but it almost
feels like I haven't been there at all... we've been at the VC pretty
much every day since transfers. We were even there for all sessions of
conference! I may or may to be sort of sick of the VC (I want to
protest tights). Side-note: I've been told by sister marambio that
tights aren't required at the salt lake VC, which is funny because
I've heard that we have the rule because Salt lake said it was their
rule. DC summers in tights might be the death of me.

Even though we've been at the VC every day, I have had a little time
in Kentlands, and what I've experienced so far has been great! The
members here are amazing! So many home-cooked meals!! Sister chapman sent a FB message to sister martinis last week, asking her to send out an email version of the meal calendar. Sister martinis is in charge of our meal calendar, which I actually love, because as always - invitations from members are much more powerful and effective than
invitations from missionaries (especially when it comes to us begging
for meals). Sister Martinis fed us first and then asked if we had any
other offers. When we told her no, she sent out the meal calendar
again and the invitations came flooding in! We have had dinner with
members every single night since Sunday and have solid dinner
appointments up until Thursday! Miracles! I've said this before, but I
have a solid testimony that Heavenly Father is blessing my taste buds.
Turns out the cheeseburgers we ate had onions smashed into them and I
didn't even notice! And then last night we ate what's called football,
which is basically French bread stuffed with ground beef and cheese,
and I actually liked it! And I don't even like ground beef. It's so
cool to see the very simple ways Heavenly Father blesses us.

I'm finding the transition from YSA to a family ward to be a little
difficult. I was able to really relate to the YSAs, and now I'm thrown
into this area where I have two opposite age groups and I feel like I
don't know how to connect with either. The kids loooove sister
chapman, and she is so good with them. I feel like I often stand
there, unsure of what to say of do. I've always been that way with
kids, when someone else is there and has that good relationship, I
step back and fear that they will never like me. And then there's the
parents... How on earth do I relate to the parents? As sister Fifita
would say, "the struggle is real". I'm sure it will get better with
time and practice, and probably a lot more confidence. The past two
lessons we've had with kids went like this: sister chapman talking,
teaching, and being so great while sister Rowley sits there with
nothing to say.

Best night of my life!! We had such an amazing miracle today! We had
dinner with brother and sister Wang, who have been less actives for
years now. They were converts 1989 and have since fallen away.
Something happened at church that left them feeling offended so they
haven't been back since. The spirit was so strong tonight and I know
that everything we did and said was lead by the spirit. As sis.
Chapman and I were studying this morning we both felt impressed to
talk about temples tonight. I had found a Mormon message - the
blessings of the temple, and sis chapman had at the same time found
quotes in preach my gospel that talked about temples. It was so
amazing to see how from the very beginning The Lord was guiding us in
the direction that would best help the Wangs. Everything was perfect.
I've never felt more comfortable in a dinner setting as a missionary
than I did with the Wangs. It was somehow even more comfortable than
the dinners I had with any of the YSAs. Everything just flowed so
well, the conversation was enjoyable and there were no awkward pauses.
Plus the food was good :]  My love for the Wangs grew minute by
minute, especially as sister wang told us about their conversion
story. Our plan was to ask them about it, but she brought it up on her
own and if was just perfect! They had lost a son at a very young age.
He had a heart defect and after some major surgeries, he ended up
passing away. They experienced about 4 deaths in a 6-month time
period... It was those humbling experience that allowed them to accept
missionaries and the plan of salvation. They were found tracting and
quickly became friends with the elders. It was the temple and the
promise that families can be together forever that sparked their
interest in the church. It's that same message that allowed us to have
such a spiritual experience in their home tonight. Sis chapman had
never met bro wang prior tonight, so it was really neat for both of us
to experience that joy together as we saw how faithful both brother
and sister wang are. We knew they were inactive, but we weren't sure
how inactive they were. The food was blessed and the discussions were
very gospel related. It's very apparent that they still pray and they
even stated that they both know the church is true. We weren't sure
how inactive bro wang was, especially since he was the one offended,
so it made us so happy to see him initiate the prayer for dinner. He
is just the sweetest man, and sis wang is so darling. They haven't
been sealed in the temple yet, so that is what we're hoping to help
them with. I know that their son is helping us from the other side -
that was made very apparent to me tonight. I can't get over now
amazing tonight was and how guided we were by the spirit. I couldn't
stop crying! For reals though, I cried so much, it's ridiculous. Sis
wang does a lot of the talking, so when there was a pause I took the
opportunity to ask bro wang what he thought about the video. I knew it
touched him, because I wasn't the only crying. He was pretty open with
us and recognizes that they need to be more active in the church. He
was also willing to admit that he was offended and that's what is
keeping him from coming to church. We talked about the atonement, and
how Christ can help us even with things like this, forgiving someone.
We also talked about how the church is perfect, but the members are
far from it. I was able to share my experience when the LDS sororities
were shut down and I wasn't happy about it, but I had to eventually
learn that there was a reason for it. I never did discover the reason,
but I eventually learned to be okay with it and hand over that
unhappiness and even anger over to The Lord. He dealt with it so I
didn't have to. We helped brother wang better understand that the
atonement includes so much more than personal mistakes, and I showed
him that it was by praying about the LDS sororities that I eventually
moved forward. As we closed the night, brother wang said the most
wonderful prayer. He said that he knew they needed to be more active
in the church and asked for help in doing so. MIRACLE! As soon as we
said our goodbyes, we walked out and again I just started crying
again. I just felt so grateful to be here in Kentlands helping the
Wangs remember how much they love the gospel, how important church is,
and how they can become an eternal family. They were so excited for us
to come over and I think that's what made tonight so special. Bro wang
was really excited about sharing his favorite dessert with us and got
all the ingredients at the grocery store. Strawberry shortcake! Dad's
favorite too! Somehow we got to talking about the ward cook book, and
bro wang said he'd get copies for us. He has scanned everything into
the computer and said he will make us CDs with all the recipes. Ah,
today was just so good. Sister chapman and I have decided to fast
tomorrow for the wang family. It's extra special because it's our
temple day as VC sisters, so we will be able to add their names to the
prayer roll as well. I am so excited to go to the temple and think
about how we can help the Wangs reach that goal for their family.

We even had miracles leading up to our lesson tonight with the Wangs
that definitely invited the spirit to be with us unrestrained. We went
back to Carolyn's house today, as we do every week, only it was
different this time. I was very impatient with her when I first met
her, we go pretty much every week and clean her house for her. I was
sort of annoyed the first time because I felt like I wasn't doing
"missionary work". We were there for hours and it was frustrating to
be cleaning someone's house for them instead of teaching them to clean
in a way that would enable them. She had left the grossest dishes in
the sink and everything in her house was just a mess. We never
finished anything either, we would start cleaning one thing and then
she would ask us to move somewhere else. I had a lot of repenting to
do after that first time. I prayed to have more love for her though,
and it happened! Heavenly Father blessed me to feel that increased
love for her. We didn't have to clean as much either, so that was an
extra blessing. I started to see Carolyn the way Heavenly Father does.
I could see how tender hearted she was and how she just wants to do
the right thing. I could see how much she loves and appreciates us.
Those feelings I had for her that day helped me to talk to her more,
to actually care, and to help with a more willing heart. I definitely
believe that experience prepared me to be closer to the spirit for the
wang family.

Fill your vase

I learned a really neat lesson the other day, one about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I won't bore you with the who, what, where, and why of flower picking, but know that flowers were picked, placed in a water-less vase, and left unseen for hours. They were beautiful when they were first picked, so full of life! If flowers had the ability to feel happy, these flowers were feeling just that. While we were out living our busy missionary lives, the flowers died. The once beautifully bloomed flowers looked as though they would never recover. I had a thought, a simple one that took very little effort - add water. I did just that, I added water to the vase and when we returned that evening we quite literally gasped. The flowers were gorgeous! Back to that beautiful bloom, the one that has me wishing flowers had feelings so I could label them as happy.

Being a missionary, my mind couldn't help but relate this little experience to the gospel. Water is essential to sustain life - flowers, animals, humans, we all need it. Jesus Christ and his teachings (often referred to as living water) are essential for eternal life and true happiness. If we do not fill our spiritual vases with water, we will die. We all make mistakes, we forget to add the water, we put other things of lesser importance ahead of that water, sometimes we even blatantly refuse to add the water. Just as those flowers wither away, our spiritual progress begins to not only stand still, but deteriorate. Oh how important it is for us to fill our vases! Study the scriptures diligently! Attend church weekly! Pray with your heart, your whole entire heart! Attend the temple! Share the gospel! Do all that you can!! Fill your vase so you don't wither away. If I were a Book of Mormon prophet right now, I would probably turn my caps lock on and start telling everyone to repent now and come back, back to the path that leads to everlasting happiness! Happiness that is found here & now, and into the eternities, is only achieved by relying on Jesus Christ. We cannot return to full bloom, we cannot reach our full potential, and we cannot become who we are meant to become if we don't allow Christ to help us. Let Him in, let Him fill your vase.

pics of the week

saying goodbye to the YSA’s
 
MTC seven:
 

Spring!!

an answer to my prayers

It came in the mail, all the way from Nevada. It was addressed to me, even though she was a stranger. I felt loved and appreciated, I felt grateful and humbled; a 15-year old girl took the time to seal it all up in a super cute envelope. I opened it up and there it said, "called to serve" - what an honor that is. Now that card sits right on my desk, I see it every morning. It's a reminder of who I am, who called me and why. It reminds me that I'm a blogger and a missionary, we use facebook and skype. Heavenly Father knows best, He uses our talents and gives the chance to try. That's why I was sent here, so I could share the gospel online.

I have been wanting to blog again and I've been asking Heavenly Father if I can, and if it can be more like before my mission - I think if I blog that way I can make a bigger difference. It's sort of like that identity crisis when you're a missionary but you're still supposed to be yourself but you don't know how. So I've been praying about blogging and then the coolest thing happened. My prayers were answered by a letter from a stranger! This amazing girl took the time to write me and thank me for my blog as a missionary and I am so grateful that she did. She wasn't sure why she felt impressed to, but I know why, I needed that answer from Heavenly Father. Never ignore an impression, you might just be the answer to someone's prayer.

i'm now serving in......

transfers happened!!!! i definitely miss the YSAs so much, but hey - i get to see them any time they come to the VC! i actually got to see a few of them this weekend for general conference! we got to watch it on the big screen in our theater at the VC. I thought it was going to be harder to say goodbye to the YSA. I think Heavenly Father blessed me with feelings of peace. I had a few breakdowns before, but the actual goodbye wasn't what I expected it to be. When we went to email, I jumped on FB to make an announcement on the group page, I wanted everyone to know what was going on. We also

texted a few of the YSAs to let them know and make sure they came to
FHE so we could see them. I had received a FB message from David Sosa, a less active that we knew but when the elders were here they worked with him much more than we ever did, but he still took the time to send me a personal thank you and I just felt so appreciated! I realized that I'm going to miss ALL of the YSA, not just the ones I worked closely with. I felt more like a YSA at that final FHE than a missionary. Something keeps popping into my head that sis caffee said to me, she told me that I was so good and being with the YSA and not of them. I hadn't even recognized that of myself and I feel grateful that Heavenly Father helped me be a missionary in situations that would sometimes be hard to uphold that standard.

so I'm now serving in...... KENTLANDS! it's actually super close to where i was before. even though we're neighbors it's suuuuper different, hello massive mansions and super rich people. it's hard to find lots of success when tracting, and tracting is pretty much our only option when we don't have appointments, but i'm so happy! i feel like every time i write i am just so happy to be a missionary! We haven't had much of an opportunity to actually be in the area, we've been at the VC for the past few days, but I am really excited and love what I've experienced thus far. We had some amazing miracles in the VC this week!!! My testimony is growing stronger and stronger of how powerful the VC is and just how special it is to be serving there. I sometimes think the VC is under appreciated by us as missionaries, I have certainly taken it for granted and failed to recognize the miracles that happen here. We met an amazing couple who lives right next to us! Sadly, they are not in our area and the Gaithersburg elders will end up teaching them. We were able to teach them about temples and eternal families. We showed them the movie in the house and the spirit was just so strong! It was that movie that allowed the spirit to touch their hearts and accept our invitation to meet with missionaries. They own a FROG yogurt shop in our area, so we are going to stop by and make sure they were able to meet with missionaries!! We found out that FROG stands for Fully Rely On God! Isn't that neat?! I also had the opportunity to talk with a man named Cliff over the phone. He's in his 60s and is looking for a new church, a place to feel like home. I happily explained that he found it, this is where he will feel at home!! He accepted my invitation to meet with missionaries, I got all his information, and then bam - the internet went down. I was devastated. In the last half hour of our shift at the Visitors Center, I was able to call him back and I got through to him! He had tried calling again and was directed to a sister in Salt Lake. She had told him that she would try to find me, but it would have been very unlikely that she could. He was so happy when we were reconnected and he exclaimed, that although the other sister was kind and helpful, the enthusiasm I had was what drew him in. Because of that experience I have been able to recognize that one of my talents is that: my enthusiasm for life and for the gospel. As I started to reflect on that, I recalled a few other instances where my enthusiasm was commented on and appreciated. I know that Heavenly Father sends to me specific people that will respond to my unique abilities. It really was a miracle that I met Cliff and was reconnected with him. We had even covered a shift for some other sisters that night! Right place, right time!

once upon a time i went running. we went into the city to see the cherry blossoms this morning, they aren't fully out yet, but it was so fun! i actually ran (you would be so proud!!). we plan on going back next week when it isn't raining though and hopefully the blossoms are in full bloom. we were soaking wet and super cold, but it was still so fun and i'm glad that we went. minus the fact that i still haven't unpacked! yeah, i'm living out of suitcases right now. we get home so late and we haven't been home for lunches or dinners. we've been at the VC pretty much every day since transfers. #thelifeofamissionary
Sister Chapman and I contacted the neatest lady on the metro today. We were heading back after our city run, and were witnesses to what could have been an awful accident. She had tried to catch the metro by sticking her hand in the doors. But the doors don't recognize when that happens, and the people inside were frantically trying to help her get loose. Luckily, her arm, her umbrella, and her bag were pushed out just as the metro headed on it's way. Sister Chapman immediately ran up to her to make sure she was okay. We got to talking to her and taught her about temples and modern day prophets. We invited her to visit the VC and as we were leaving she asked for our numbers (asked for OURS! the elect!!). We gave her our facebook names and got hers as well! We are so excited and we are so grateful that we were blessed with the opportunity to meet her. We cannot wait to begin teaching her online! We are so blessed to be online missionaries!!

i'm happy to be here. the real kind of happy, not the i have to be happy because i'm a missionary happy. i've been reflecting on general conference, trying to think about what i gained this time around. i tried really hard to listen to my feelings this time instead of just listening to the words. there were a few times where i didn't know exactly what was being said, but my testimony was strengthened. i felt the literal power of the holy ghost bear witness to me that these are indeed prophets of god and this is the one true church restored on the earth today. i felt it in my heart. i know that this is god's work and i know that this is the best thing we can all be doing with our lives. not just the full time missionaries, but all of us!!

love you all so much!!!

love, sister rowley

pics of the week

first skype lesson

what I learned from Sis Fifita… how to have fun!

what missinaries do…. wait