Discontinuing

Good and bad news: I'm discontinuing this blog. The good news is that the work is moving on. Things get too busy for emails and a blog!

But to anyone reading this, I'm still in Texas, still loving this gospel, still serving as a full-time missionary. If you're interested, you can email me and request for my family emails. But life is busy for y'all too, and I'm sending my love with or without emails! 

Keep up the good work! Read your scriptures, say your prayers, and go to church. That's the secret recipe for success, and I'm sharing it with the internet! You can even share it with your friends. You're welcome. :)

Love,
Sister Rowley

melissa (dot) rowley (at) myldsmail (dot) net

Week Five!

I was in such a hurry last week I didn't even write what week it was! Haha!

Mission Report: Our investigator passed his interview and is getting baptized this Saturday! We're so proud of him! Mission life is hard, but it's so good. We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ... :) This past Sunday we learned in Sunday School how to answer the tough questions that people ask, or that we ourselves may have about the church. The first step is to remember to pray and to search the scriptures. Then the church has great resources on www.mormon.org/faq. And then if the person asking are just wanting to fight, then show them love and don't engage in discussion. Sometimes you can tell if they're not interested in learning if they ask rapid fire questions, ignore your sources, ridicule character, etc. It's hard as a missionary, but we need the gift of discernment -- the ability to tell between those who are ready to hear our message, and those who aren't. I heard it said recently that the only problem with the church is that it's true. :) Just show people love and respect, trust in God, do many good things of your own free will, and it will work out in the end.

Quality of Christ: My companion is helping me develop confidence. Confidence isn't knowing that you're right all the time, but confidence is knowing that Christ will not let you or anyone else down. So I've been working on opening my mouth with confidence. No need to be shy about this wonderful message! I'm terribly awkward, but I'm cheerful about it, so that's good. Haha!

Challenge! Memorize a new scripture that means something to you. This is something that I've been working on. Scriptures bring such a peaceful, hopeful spirit into my heart. Someone once said, 'The more I learn, the more excited I get.' And that's how I feel about the gospel! The more I learn the more excited I get.

Trust in God!

Love,

Sister Rowley

Week

Challenge and Quality: an attitude of gratitude

Mission Experience: I am at a member's home borrowing an ipad to email for this holiday's P-day, so this will be brief, but I am so grateful for their kindness towards missionaries. I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for Joseph Smith, for good weather and open doors. For running water and a running car, for Preach My Gospel and all it teaches. For the Book of Mormon and its power. For open hearts and helping hands. For God our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. And for you! Thank you for your support.

Love,

Sister Rowley

Week Three!

In Preach My Gospel it says something like your attitude about your mission is a reflection of your respect for the priesthood. When we met with the Mission President a week or so ago, he taught us about the priesthood -- so to improve mission morale, he teaches priesthood? Cool! The power of God is real and faith in it strengthens us. Learning more about the priesthood gave me such a respect for God's order -- He doesn't just throw His power around to whoever wants it; they have to be worthy and use it as He allows.

Here are a few tidbits of what we learned:

Different Words with the Priesthood:

1-Conferred: receiving the whole priesthood. Example: When you receive the Aaronic Priesthood, you have all of it, regardless of if you're a Deacon, Teacher, or Priest.

2-Ordained: placed into an office, or a division of duties that go along with having the Priesthood.

• Offices in Aaronic Priesthood: Deacon, Teacher, Priest, Bishop.
  
• Offices in Melchizedek Priesthood: Elder, High Priest, Seventy, Patriarch, Apostle

3-Set Apart: set apart in a calling.

• Ordained is for life, as long as the man stays worthy -- so, once a bishop, always a bishop, once a deacon, always a deacon. But callings come and go. So when a bishop is called a second time, he doesn't need to be ordained again, only set apart. We don't really need to call him Bishop when he is not the set-apart bishop; it's just a tradition some people have.
• A Stake President is not an office of the priesthood, it's a calling. So it's not once a president, always a president. Cool, huh? Also, there was a tiny, unimportant thing he mentioned offhand, that it's not Young Women's President, because she's not the president of the young women: the Bishop is their presiding authority. It's the Young Women Program's President, so you'd say Young Women President, not Young Women's President. Hard to wrap your head around, but so fascinating.
  

4-Keys: the right to preside. It takes keys to give keys. It's so important to not overstep your bounds as a priesthood holder. That's why we recognize the "presiding authority" whenever they're in our meetings. Showing respect for the man with the most keys in the room shows respect for God.

5-Titles: Calling people by the right title, and those sorts of things are called the "unwritten order," meaning it's not written anywhere, but are learned from observation and revelation; President Slaughter has learned it from observing the leaders of the church, since he's worked with them closely, and it just shows such respect for the priesthood and that power. Examples: You just call a patriarch "Brother," because he doesn't hold any Priesthood keys. He holds the Priesthood, yes, but he doesn't have the right to preside. You can call any holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood "Elder." All 3 of the presiding bishopric members can be called Bishop, but not so with normal bishoprics; just call ward bishopric counselors "Brother." Only members of specific Quorums call their president of the 70's "President." The rest of us call them Elder, because they don't hold keys that apply to us, well they do, but not they're President over us like the Prophet is, and such. Both the President and counselors of stake presidency can be called President. These were just some odd, fascinating things that make me want to learn more!

Challenge: Study something you don't understand this week! The more I learned from President Slaughter about the Priesthood, the more I cared about it and my testimony grew. So learn something from the scriptures, from the prophets, from your local priesthood leader, from prayer. Prayer is probably the most important one. Pray about what you learn.

Mission Report: We've invited and are helping a wonderful man prepare for baptism on November 29, so pray for him too! And missionary work is so good. I've written too much already, but I love all I'm learning and hope you love learning every day as well!

Quality of Christ: Knowledge. The more I have read about Christ's life this week, the more my testimony of Him grows, and I want to share it even more. Christ is constantly talking about faith, and having unwavering, great faith. When Peter walks on water, his faith wavers and he sinks for uncertainty and doubt. But still, I mean, come on! Peter walked on water! I find it so inspiring that a mortal walked towards Christ on nothing but water with nothing but faith in Christ. What a miracle! So imagine even greater faith than that? Wherefore didst thou doubt? Christ says. I know you have faith, so why did you doubt? Great faith is unwavering. Knowledge doesn't take away from faith; God is light and knowledge. So keep learning and keep focusing on the right place. If Peter didn't turn his focus away from Christ onto the storm, he wouldn't have sunk. (But still, how humbling that Christ will always save us if we call to Him.) So keep focusing on Christ!

I love you all!
Sister Rowley

Week Two!

I learned so much this week and I don't even have time to talk about it! Missions keep you so busy!

Challenge:

Pay attention! There are opportunities everywhere. I love hearing experiences of how you're already doing this. So keep it up, and get back up if you have a rough week/day/hour. I am in awe every day of how God places people in our lives at perfect times.

Mission Report:

After church, Sister E was looking to give a book back to a Sister M who we had never met. We said sorry, and parted ways. A few moments later a woman came out of the church kitchen and introduced herself as a Sister M from the other ward. We said a cheerful greeting and parted ways, but then the Spirit poked me, I guess you could say, and I turned back and said, "Wait, are you the Sister M who needs the book from Sister E?" And she was, so we pointed her in the right direction and she almost ran down the hall. Sister E found us later and told us how grateful she was for sending Sister M in her direction.

That was such a small experience, but I was touched because it felt so real and so powerful and so simple to see how God placed us in the right places at the right time to talk to the right people to get that book returned. And if he cares that much about Sister E and Sister M and what they worry about after church, then of course He cares about His lost children who don't even have the blessings we do. So I know my companion and I will find the people we need to.

Quality of Christ:

I've been working on hope like Christ this week. Mosiah 24:13-15. I think the command to 'lift up your head' and 'lift up your heart' to be of good comfort is an action, not an automatic feeling. Sometimes hope doesn't come naturally, to me; I'm a bit pessimistic. Cheerful, but pessimistic about what I can accomplish on my mission. But that's okay! That's what I'm trying to develop. So if my heart hangs down, I push it back up, and keep doing that -- push-ups are the worst, but they're good for arm strength. If we get back up when we get knocked down, we'll have such a strong heart. God will strengthen us, and ease the burdens, and if we submit cheerfully and with patience, we will find Christ! Keep getting back up, keep repenting, and anything is possible.

Love,

Sister Rowley

Week One!

Texas is a beautiful state! I love the friendly people, my patient companion, and the reliable car.  The apartment feels safe, the bed feels comfortable, and the water clean. Our alarm clock changes sounds every morning, which I find amusing and confusing.

Also, the members are saints and I have not gone hungry since I've been here thanks to their scrumptious cooking. We've eaten zucchini boats, pulled pork sandwiches, grilled chicken, Chinese Take-Out... I've been gifted homemade jelly, and candied apples, child-made paper books and candy rings. And I've only been here 5 days. The huge hearts of these Texans are incredible.

Challenge!
On that note, my challenge to you this week: do something nice for a missionary in your area! It's so encouraging to have some stranger offer to take a picture and send it to your family, or offer you a bottle of water when it's hot (everyone here drinks bottled water...) Dinners are great, referrals are awesome, smiles and a handshake are lovely. Anyways, just keep being the beautiful, supportive people you are!

Mission Report:
Things are hard, and even though people are so friendly and the ward members so supportive, we haven't met any of our goals any of the time. Which, being reasonable with myself, I've only been here 5 days, and barely know anything about missionary work. Also, day 2 of my mission we took over the entire ward boundaries. So that's a huge amount of mileage to cover for 2 relatively new sisters. But, still... for a straight A, A- student, getting D's and F's is like General Conference without an airplane Uchtdorf talk -- kind of depressing, even though you know it's not required all the time. But we'll keep working and learning and growing in the mission field.

We met a lovely Catholic lady on the side of the road who listened to the entire Restoration lesson from us right then (I love Catholics; but they rarely want a message, so I think God was preparing this wonderful woman) while a cat wrapped itself around my legs and got hair all over my nylons and people peered out their cars at us as they drove slowly past like, What're they doin? So the work is going on, and it's kinda fun! :)

Quality of Christ:

I've been working on having diligence like Christ this week. I was reading in 1 Nephi 8, about the Tree of Life dream. I compared those who became ashamed after the fruit, and those who fell down.

"I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree. And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed." (vs24-25)

"...he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree." (vs30)

They both followed the words of God and pressed forward. But I love the difference "press their way forward." Make it your journey! Diligence is personal. Enjoy it. That was good advice for me. It's not anyone's journey but my own, so I only need to measure up to God's expectations.

Clinging makes me think of clothing that doesn't fit right. Or plastic wrap to put on food you're going to toss later. It makes me think of nails digging in, tips of fingers holding tight, but everything else pulling you away sort of verb. It doesn't make me think of a loving verb.

Continually holding fast sounds slow, patient, calm, trusting... My companion prayed for us one night, and she said, "May Sister Rowley slowly learn all... no, I mean, fastly learn all she needs to for this mission." She meant quickly, but I liked how she used fast-ly. God's time is fast enough for needs, but not too fast for what we can handle. I'm going to fall over when I get home I'll be so tired, but I'm gonna be so happy!

So keep the faith!

Love you all,
Sister Rowley

Getting a Sense of the MTC

I've been learning how to listen while I'm here at the MTC.

To myself and my own needs, to snoring, to amazing teachers, to construction zones, to silence, to hymns, to companions and their needs, to girl talk, to mission lingo, to hometowns and destinations, to people saying "hey, guys... oops, I mean ELDERS!" To the chatter of the cafeteria, to the shatter when at least one person drops and breaks a glass a day. To the elder in the desk next to me, rapping quietly to himself about Priests, Deacons, and Teachers. To four different alarm clocks going off at different times in our residence.

To rows of churning washing machines and rows of splashing showers. To our district having silent arguments as we learn how to interact and love each other. To dorky church jokes. To the heavy click of the locks on every door. To the clack of keyboards on P-days. To the sound of my own voice trying to explain the gospel simply. To the Role Playing teachers pretending to be investigators and asking the questions that make you squirm. To the voice of the Spirit whispering so quietly.

I've been learning how to see while I'm here at the MTC.

To see how my companion wakes up in the morning, bushy haired and bleary eyed, and still beautiful. The graham cracker brown color of the bricks on every identical building. The way the temple lights up in the dark hours of the morning as you shiver up the parking lot. The sea of black suits every devotional. The shiny black and white square on every chest. The bottom of the mattress in the bunk above you as you try to fall asleep. The laughter of two sister missionaries as they hug and rejoin. The scrawl of all the notes you're trying to take. The colorful meal on your pasty yellow tray. The way our district's faces light up when we see our teachers again.

I've been learning to feel here at the MTC.

To feel the scratchy MTC blankets. To feel the smooth pages of the scriptures and desperately need more time to read. To feel love for people you've just met. To feel excited and scared at the same time. To feel an impression and act on it. To feel weird when I see someone with a phone. To feel warm in my heart during a spiritual discussion. To feel excited over the strangest things: emails, even the ones asking you to take a food survey of the cafeteria; cool Devotional speakers that carry tissue boxes under their armpits to represent carrying sins with you; the cute little laundry soap boxes in the bookstore; when your teacher/investigator finally says a prayer in front of you; when you get cool insight in the temple; companionship prayer and our group hug afterwards; when you have time at the end of the day to read a few more verses of scripture.

The MTC teaches me so much. It's hard and regimented and taxing; like an army barrack for a spiritual army of peace. It's beautiful and warm and friendly; a green house for souls. I'm super excited to leave for Texas this Wednesday, but these have been an amazing two weeks; they've just flown by!

I pray for all of you all of the time. I'm finally learning what it means to have a prayer in your heart always. And I'm so excited to serve the Lord! I wish you all of the blessings the Lord can give you!

Much, Much Love,

Sister Rowley

(P.S. I'm emailing this to my blog, so I'm not going on any forbidden sites, don't worry! This Sister is working ridiculously hard to try to be 100% obedient. Yeah, it's even harder than it sounds. :)

Week Zero: Speak Life

I can't believe it's finally come, and in 7 days I'm heading in to the MTC. Wish me love.

Prepared? Of course I don't feel prepared! And at the same time, I do. It's really bizarre. But whom God calls He qualifies, right?

I have to warn you. If you want to hear play-by-play about the progress of investigators I get to teach, or ugly details about the weather in San Antonio, or what we busied ourselves with on P-day, this won't be the blog for you. I spent 3 1/2 years blogging EVERY DAY about all of the nitty-gritty details of my life in college for my family, and I need a change in blogging scene. It was a great experience, but it was hard to write, and probably hard to read. That's what journals are for, not blogs.

So I've thought long and hard about what I want to send home each week. I don't want my mission to be about me. College was about me. Now I want this stage in my life to be about Christ.

Of course it'll be personal, and of course you'll still get a view of what I'm doing. But I'll save some kick-butt stories to share at home when I'm Melissa again, not Sister Rowley. And I want to honor my future friends investigating the gospel with a little privacy in their growth towards Christ, so I'll save their personal stories for a space not so public as the internet. But we do want to testify of Christ and let people know that other people are investigating this gospel! So here are three things I'll share each week:

1-- The attribute of Christ I'm working on that week with what I've learned so far about that quality.

2-- One or two of my favorite missionary experiences of the week. (That's why you visit missionary blogs, right?)

3-- A challenge for my family/readers. A returned Sister missionary told me she wished she'd been challenging her family all along so that this mission experience could be their mission experience too. #sharewisdom

We'll see what happens to the blog as it evolves. So if you want to follow along, I'd be so happy to have you here! As a missionary my job will be to reach out and seek those who don't yet know Christ. Every day will be rewarding and hard and exhausting, so I've been told. And sometimes it will be nice to hear from people already on the path with Christ, showing support and mutual faith.

"For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me." -- Romans 1:11-12

I miss you already! So I'll share my growing faith with you here on this blog as I try to follow my Savior all the way to Texas. And you can share your faith with me if you so feel the desire. Mutual faith! <3

Anyway, I've got some studying to do.

And we've both got some faith to develop.

Cheerfully yours,

Sister Rowley

P.S. If the journey gets hard and you don't have time to follow yet another blog, but would still like something to take away and uplift your life, I've spent a ridiculous amount of hours compiling a collection of 555 inspirational, motivational quotes for myself -- a few more than one-per-mission-day in little fortune cookie form to get myself started in the morning. (yeah, I know you can buy quote books for like $10, but sometimes I'm kinda cheap and also probably too much of an over-achiever... also, maybe I only learned of these books after I compiled... ahahaha :) These are obviously not a replacement for scriptures when it comes to true motivation, but sometimes you need motivation to seek motivation. Haha, so if you would like a copy of this, shoot me an email saying "Hey, soul Sister, send me those quotes or something," and I'll forward it straight to you for your printing and enjoying use.

melissa . rowley (at) my lds mail . net

(There are no spaces, and the parenthesis at is an @ sign, but I want to elude automatic computer spammers... is that how spamming works? No? Ok, so whatever, I'm crazy, but we already knew this... :) As long as you are not a spammer, feel free to contact me through this same email any time during my mission's duration. I'll be checking it weekly and I've heard missionaries love mail. *not hinting* *not hinting* haha, again, so much love. - Sister Rowley)