I think you're crazy.

From Feb. 14, 2014

This week we went to contact a reference that we got with this member. She took us to this house and we entered. The lady that we went to visit was sitting there with a veil on. This is an immediate indicator that she is every evangelical. The Evangelical church here is huge and they generally don't want anything to do with us. So I thought well this is going to be interesting. But we shared a scripture with here, because it was late we couldn't actually teach a full lesson. Then the Sister that was with us, Sister Gochez told us that she wanted a blessing. I'll tell you more about the Gochez family another day. Anyways we put our hands on her veiled head. (Not sure if blessing work through evangelical veils.) Before I could explain anything or say anything she immediatley starts praying in a very loud way. ¡Bendito Jesús! ¡Santo sea tu nombre! ¡Quita esta enfermidad de mi cuerpo! She started getting real into it and started yelling and shaking. Then her hands started going up and volume kept going up and up. Then final Sister Gochez stopped her. And had to, with force, pull her hands down. I then told her that she needs to be quiet and listen. She did and I gave her a little blessing. Apparently she has been visited by missionaries before. She invited us over for dinner and gave us sopa de gallina or hen soup. There was some weird stuff in that soup eggs that didn't have shells but were still shaped like eggs. I'm assuming they never actually left the hen until the hen was killed. They was some other funny textured mystery meat. The base of the soup was pure vegetable oil. It was actually pretty good though. Anyways that was the interesting story of this week

This week has been a good week. We found this guy one day a couple of weeks ago. We were walking in the street and I heard Hey Elders. I turned around and saw a guy and his wife. We went and started talking to him. He told us that he was a member but he went inactive around 20 years ago. Apparently his sisters are strong members but he has returned. So we asked what day we could pass by his house. He said, "Ahh, one day." His wife however was way more receptive. In fact she told us she was very interested in learning. The man told us, "I know that she wants to learn but I don't want her to want to learn." We just thought, "Oh well but we are definitely coming back." We have gone back a couple of times. Every time the man pretends to hide himself from us like he doesn't want to talk but now it is just a joke and they are becoming more positive and positive. The man is changing and they wife is learning. That really is the beautiful thing about the mission.

Thanks for everything.

-Elder Rowberry

I'm going through changes.

From Feb. 7, 2014

This week was changes week. Which, if you work in the office, means a lot of work. A lot of graphs and power points made, data and photos collected, and certificates printed. Lots of really exciting stuff for all of you readers at home. Here is a changes week day by day.

Monday: The Assistants and the Training Leaders have their meeting with President in the morning. Which means I need to take all of the numbers from the Zone Leaders. I then make reports and give them to them to analyse. I also had to have release packets ready for all the people that were going to leave. I also have a bunch of random other jobs to do.

Tuesday: All the news get here and we spend all day doing stuff with them. I had to also make sure I had all the photos of people who baptized families as well as certificates.

Wednesday: Changes meeting. I had to make sure powerpoints of success stories was ready and a powerpoint of family baptizers. We had to make sure everything was all good to go.

Thursday: Normally is just a normal day in the office. This week we had a meeting with all of the zone leaders so I had to make sure they all had reports of their areas and zones and I had to make sure all the confirmations were all correct and do a bunch of other boring things. 

Anyways it was a lot busier than it sounds. Every night we tried our best with the little time we had to proselyte to find new people and to teach. 

Thanks

-Elder Rowberry

I Come From the Land of the Ice and Snow

 I hear it's been pretty cold over there in the states. Here... it's not. It's still pretty hot. Thankfully Santa Ana isn't nearly as hot as Nahuizalco, where I was before. Also the air conditioned office is pretty nice.

    This week was a good week. We have really been trying to find news. I realized that finding new investigators is very important. Previously we have been focusing our success on a couple of investigators and when they don't progress or they don't want to keep commitments, or even make commitments for that matter, you are just left with nothing really.  We have been putting a much greater effort into finding the chosen. In our Zone Meeting on Thursday we talked about finding and we talked about what Elder Cook talked about. He quoted President Hinckley saying "If the missionaries had more faith, they would have more success." We have been trying to put our faith in the Lord more so that we can find news. We set a goal as Zona Paraíso to find 4 news a day per each companionship. I know that it is possible even though we have significantly less time to work in our area. I have been trying to increase my faith through studying about faith and trying to put what I learn into practice. One cool experience we had was when we were doing LPE trying to find news. We had been knocking on doors and getting rejected and rejected. Finally we talked to this lady in a medicine store and she had a client there. I asked them what they had heard about our church and if they had any questions. The lady told us that the Elders had visited her and her husband but due to some complication they lost contact. It was mainly her husband who was interested so she didn't want to talk to us. However, the client raised his hand and said, "If you guys have time I would really like it if you could visit me." We gave him an emphatic "Of Course!" So we walked with him to his house. We started talking and told us, "If you could I would love it if you invited me to Church." We told him that he was always invited and that every Sunday we have the meetings. He gave us his guarantee that he would come. It is nice when you find positive news. We definitely got blessed with him. I hope he continues to progress and eventually make it to baptism and the temple.

Also I forgot to mention the last two weeks that I got a new companion. His name is Elder Paravato. He's from California. My companion got changed away on emergency changes out of the office. I guess he just wasn't cutting it. 

Thanks for everything.

-Elder Rowberry

I'm Freeeee Free-falling

-From Friday Jan. 24

I'm back.

I'm glad to be back in the office as well as in the field. It made me antsy to just sit in the house all day and think of my investigators. We have been working with a man named Ernesto. When we found him he seemed super positive. We found him on a Saturday and he went to church the next Sunday. He has been going to church pretty much since then. He believes that the Book of Mormon is true and he believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet. The man is very faithful and very god-fearing. He is really scared to get baptized in our church because he was baptized in another church and he doesn't want to offend God. And it says in the bible that there is one God, one faith, and one baptism. He told us that  if he didn't get baptized in another church he would have easily been baptized in ours. Obviously he doesn't understand the authority and the apostasy. I feel that we have taught it to him clearly and concisely many times. I honestly feel a little stumped about what to teach him. We had a real powerful experience in which we knelt down with him and told him to pray and ask if he should get baptize. We knelt there on the ground for about 15 minutes. Then he got up and said I feel this comfort and warmth. Then we asked him to get baptized. I was so sure that he was going to say yes. He didn't however. He said I'm going to keep praying.  We told him that he got his answer and I think he knew it too. I think he was just too scared to take the step. Ernesto knows the Bible really well and he will be a great leader when he gets baptized because he will get baptized. 

I am happy to be back out working and I it was a really cool experience to hear Elder Cook and see all the missionaries united as one when we had a special meeting with him. He talked all about the process of mission calls and the inspiration. He also talked about the hastening of the work. It was really cool and I learned alot.

Thanks for everything.

-Elder Rowberry

It's 9 O' Clock on a Saturday

and I'm in my house studying my scriptures. 

This week was a good one. President told me that I had to stay in the house for another week to recover fully. I felt good last week and I was ready to work but he said I had to rest more. I've been feeling good this whole week.  I'm used to just working through sickness and pain. It probably is better that I had some time to rest though.  I am grateful for the time that I have had to rest and recuperate.  I gets kind of boring sitting in the house all day but I have been able to read a lot and study the scriptures as well as Preach My Gospel. I have been working on my lesson plans. I have been getting healthier and healthier everyday and I will be able to hit the ground running on Monday. I am excited to be able to get back into things and get back to teaching. I've realized lately the importance of teaching well and how there is a lack of good teaching in the mission field as well as in the church in general. I need to be able to teach the best I can so that I can give the investigators the best chance to accept the message and feel the spirit. The desire to become a great teacher has been growing in me lately and I am going to study to make that happen. I want to be a master of the doctrine and the scriptures as well as be a master of how to deliver it in the manner that the investigator, less active, member, missionary, or whoever needs it.  That's why studying is so important.  D&C11:21 Seek not to ^adeclare my word, but first seek to ^bobtain my^cword, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my ^dSpirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the ^econvincing of men.

Thanks for everything. 

-Elder Rowberry

6 Months

Well today is the 1/4 way mark of my mission. It has gone by so fast I've learned so much but I still have an immense amount to learn.

This week was a different week. On Sunday after church I felt terrible. My head felt like it was going to explode. So I called the nurse and she told me to rest. Which I did. Then on Monday I felt the same pressure in my head. Same thing on Tuesday. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go to the doctor. He told me I had bronchitis and sinusitis he got me squared away with some medicines then I began resting. I rested all day on Wednesday and Thursday. I have another appointment with him today and I hope things will be all good so I can go out and work. I don't have the pressure in my head anymore which is really good. I had a cool experience while I was eating lunch. I was with a member. This man is very poor and very very humble. On occasions he comes by our house on Sunday nights and knocks on the door. He tells us that he just wants to say hi and see how we're doing. Then he'll almost always ask us for something to eat for dinner. So I give him some crackers and bread. I believe this man was born with a cleft-lip and he had a surgery to fix it but it definitely left it's scars. He is generally rejected by the people here. So here I was sharing my lunch with this man and the words to the hymn "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" came to my mind. 

1. A poor, wayfaring Man of grief

Hath often crossed me on my way,

Who sued so humbly for relief

That I could never answer nay.

I had not pow'r to ask his name,

Whereto he went, or whence he came;

Yet there was something in his eye

That won my love; I knew not why.

2. Once, when my scanty meal was spread,

He entered; not a word he spake,

Just perishing for want of bread.

I gave him all; he blessed it, brake,

And ate, but gave me part again.

Mine was an angel's portion then,

For while I fed with eager haste,

The crust was manna to my taste.

And when this came to my mind I felt a great love for this man who is so often rejected by the world. I felt something special and I thought of the last verse of the hymn.

7. Then in a moment to my view

The stranger started from disguise.

The tokens in his hands I knew;

The Savior stood before mine eyes.

He spake, and my poor name he named,

"Of me thou hast not been ashamed.

These deeds shall thy memorial be;

Fear not, thou didst them unto me."

With that I felt like it was a great honor to be sharing my "scanty meal" with this man. I believe I felt a portion of the Saviors love that he has for that man.

Thank you for everything.

-Elder Rowberry

Then I got Bronchitis. Ain't nobody got time for that.

I don't know if I actually have Bronchitis but I have got something nasty. I've got a pretty bad cough and I feel tired all the time, but I went to the Doctor and she gave me some medicine so I'm on the track to recovery, hopefully. She looked into my nose, my mouth, and my ears. When she looked into my ears she said, "tranquilo." Then she reached something down into my ear and took out a ball of earwax the size of a marble. She did it to the other ear as well. It was pretty nasty. Once she did that my hearing increased by 200%. I could hear the slightest of sounds. It was crazy. Anyways...

This week was a good week. We had a finding activity here at the chapel. We were hoping to bring a ton of people. There were quite a few that came to play soccer. We were able to get a bunch of names and numbers. What was really good was this guy and his three kids came. His name is Nestor and his children are named Jairo, Gerson, and Ezequiel. We found him in a bus stop and we set up a visit with him in the chapel and we also invited him to the activity we had. He didn't come to the vist. At that point I kind of dismissed him as a potential investigator. But he came to the activity and we invited him to come to church with us the next day. We weren't able to pass by his house in the morning because we didn't know where he lived. We were sitting in sacrament meeting and he hadn't come. Then half way through he came with his kids. He said he really liked the meetings and he really liked everything. We have been visiting him and teaching him. He is super positive as well as his three sons. He loves them very much and in our first visit with him he told us that his sons are going to be the future Elders, sharing the gospel. That was pretty awesome. 

President Cordón invited us to go to his house for dinner on New Years Eve. We had some really good turkey and salad and tons of good stuff. I also got the chance to meet his son Oscar, who came back from Taiwan. He showed us a bunch of stuff from Taiwan and told us all about it. If you think learning Spanish is hard Mandarin looks a million times harder. Here New Years is a bigger deal than Christmas. They like to blow up stuff.  I was walking in my area and these guys and these kids started running towards us. I could see some sparks off in the distance. They told us to not go any farther because of the firework. So we waited a couple of seconds and then it blew up. It was box about the size of a small trashcan just full of gunpowder. The explosion was huge and loud. They were blowing up things all night long. Once again it sounded like a war zone. 

Thanks for everything, your emails, your letters, and everything, have a great New Year and a great week.

-Elder Rowberry