we had a zone conference on september 11th, mostly for safety purposes. it was just the DC zone and the Anacostia zone. it was a long day, but good. free lunch! can't complain about that! sister cooke's workshop was my favorite, she talked about how blessed we are to be serving in the nation's capitol and went through some of the really neat things the city has to offer. i perked up and took a bunch of notes - museums to go to, statutes to see, restaurants to try, and things to do. it really was so great and helped me feel so excited to be here in DC, especially in chevy chase!
sister wathen and i got to teach the french elders' investigator, dieudonne again!! ah, the spirit is so strong every time we are with him!!! it was so neat!
highlight of my week: THE SABINO FAMILY. oh my goodness!! okay, so they are in our ward, but they live super far away - like way outside of our area. they had signed up on our meal calendar to give us a drop-off meal (the guy who handles our meal calendar makes it sound like we're starving to death which is totally false, we just want to spend time with the members!). so since they said it was a drop-off meal we're expecting a chicken and maybe a couple of sides. they show up to the VC and say they have a trunk full of food but that first they'd like to take us to dinner. at first we didn't understand what was happening, we thought we were just getting the drop-off but nope! endless groceries AND dinner! they took us to chipotle and hooray - i finally figured out what to order there!! i don't hate it anymore! it's all about the steak. so we get to spend a little time with them at dinner and then we head back and they open their trunk to show us a million groceries all for us. it was absolutely insane and quite honestly one of the neatest experiences of my mission. it has nothing to do with the food - it's all about their kindness and their sacrifice FOR us and the reasoning behind it. because they live so far from our area, brother sabino said he wanted to help us in any way he can. they wanted to move the work forward by helping us move forward. he talked about how he's had sons serve missions, and how this is just the way he can help and wants to help. i wish you could tell just how many groceries it is, but the picture doesn't do it justice. since sister johnson is gluten free - they got her special gluten free stuff and lots of it too! i couldn't help but feel so much love for this sweet family. they are from the phillipines - there is something about those phillipino people that just melt your heart. they are so good-hearted and full of service.
we have a new investigator and she is the exact definition of a golden investigator! her name is stephanie and we met her at church on sunday! she just up & came on her own. she has a mormon friend who just moved to utah, so she's pretty familiar with some things and even has a copy of the BOM already. it was sort of a spur of the moment decision to come to church yesterday, but she did it and i think she really liked it. she's married, thinking of staring a family soon, which is where her interest stems from. her husband isn't interested right now, but he supports her wanting to come. she likes our values and wants to raise kids in those values, it's all so exciting!! the lesson we had in relief society was on eternal families and one of the sisters who is married to a nonmember made a comment that really helped stephanie feel peace that she can keep learning and essentially be baptized even though her husband isn't interested right now. we invited her to come to the event at the VC later that night and she was there!! i had some major anxiety at first, because we didn't see her and we couldn't reach her over the phone so 20 minutes after it started we finally went in (yousuf and aluna were also there, yay for 3 investiagors at one event!). as soon as it ends we walk out to the aisle and there she was!!!!!! we have an appointment with her on thursday and i am SO excited to be teaching her!!!!!!!!!!!! it's crazy how prepared some people are. they just walk right up to you and tell you they want to learn more! i love seeing the lord's hand in this work - it does indeed show us that this is HIS work and we are blessed to be his servants in helping the work progress. i studied about that this morning in the book of mormon. i gained a testimony of companionship study as i was sharing what i had learned. it had been enlightening when i read it on my own, but when i started sharing, my heart started to swell and before i knew it i was sitting there crying. jacob 5 might just be my new favorite chapter in the book of mormon. first of all i took some time thinking about the word tame. tame = willing to cooperate; cultivate. so then i started thinking about the word cultivate and found this: prepare, use, grow, maintain, apply oneself. i love the institute manuals on the gospel library because they really set my mind down a path that leads to personal revelation and greater insight to who I can become and who Heavenly Father wants me to be. i learned that without this cultivation, the olive tree is wild, unruly, and easily corrupted. how applicable to us is that?!?! time and time again i learn just how important it is to do the little things in life like reading scriptures, praying, attending church, all these "primary answers" are the way we cultivate and maintain our spirits and our potential as children of God. then in verses 4-5 i was so moved by the fact that it was the master of the vineyard who noticed the perishing tree. it was the master who made the first attempt to save that tree. he could have sent the servant initially, but it was so important to him that he did it! i feel that christ feels that way about us. yes he sends others to help us, but he also helps us on a very personal level. i felt so close to Him as i shared these thoughts with my companions today. "it grieveth me that i should lose this tree" said over and over and over again. if you really sit and think about that word you start to see that heavenly father and jesus christ care about us all so much and they want each and every one of us to be happy and follow them. they are DEVASTATED when we choose otherwise!! in verses 15-18 i felt truly blessed to be the lord's servant at this time, being here helping him prune and save his vineyard. i pictured myself being that servant who goes down to the vineyard and starts pointing at all the wonderful trees we helped save. it's like when i child accomplishes something and they get so excited to share it with their parents, "look what i drew! look what i made!" that excitement i feel for missionary work right now. i get to return to the lord each night and say, "look! look who we helped touch today, look who we taught! look who felt the spirit! he read the book of mormon! she came to church!" ah, i just feel so blessed to be a missionary right now. i get to work side by side with the lord, saving souls. there is nowhere else i would rather be right now.
with tears streaming down my face again (story of my life), i'll say goodbye and love you all!
- sister rowley
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