Greetings from . . . Napier? January 23/24

First, a few photos:

David and his companion, Elder Triantafillakos. Are you wondering who
Elder Triantafilakos might be? Read on.

David riding his bike around the wine country of New Zealand. Isn't it beautiful?

The cat that awaited Elder Rowe and his companion at the new apartment

Elder Rowe has been quite enchanted by the New Zealand sunrises and sunsets.
 Here's a picture of one, with him in the foreground

And now for the letter . . .

Hello my wonderful family!

The biggest news first of all is that I'm not in Christchurch anymore. Crazy! On Wednesday, President Jolliffe called me and said something like "I need you to participate in an emergency transfer. You will be flying to Napier tomorrow..." Something to do with an Elder with a broken leg and one having to go home to be a witness in court, and another one something else. So I'm here, and Elder Segi and Prebble have been left to care for my beloved Riccarton.

I am now on the North Island, in Napier. If you look at a map, Napier is on the beach, but nope, we're on the west side of Napier and the Zone Leaders have the east side and the view of the ocean. But all goods. We've got hills that remind me of Utah. They're pretty tiny compared to the Wasatch front, but they're a pleasant sight after the flatness of Christchurch. My companion is Elder Triantafillakos. How's that for a name?! He is from Melbourne, Australia, and his dad is Greek. So that's where his name comes from. I would love to hear how you would pronounce it, but so that you dont' hurt yourselves, it's Tree-ant-uh-fil-lawk-oce. His name gets people to talk to us longer at the doors because they start asking about it. He's a nice guy and a great missionary who strives to be obedient, which is awesome. The funny thing about him is that he reminds me a lot of myself. It's just some of his mannerisms and character that makes me realize what I'm like. So it's weird....

Napier area is a lot different from Riccarton, for one because we don't really have any progressing investigators. So we've been door knocking for the past four days. In the rain. With little success. But all is well! When I arrived on Thursday the Elders were telling me it gets really hot here even though it was overcast that day. Well, I haven't seen the sun for the past four days. It was raining non-stop Saturday and Sunday but luckily it has slowed down today. On Saturday it was more of a mist, so that was fine. But we got soaked Saturday night. Sunday morning was more door-knocking and it was pouring! Luckily people were nice and had sympathy for us, even though they didn't want to hear about the Gospel. We had to completely change our clothes before Church started.

Church was great! The ward is tiny, maybe like 40 people were there? It's cool because a large percentage of them are Maori-- all of the Bishopric is.

So I left Riccarton in the hands of Elder Prebble and Segi, and look forward to hearing from them when a date is set for Rudo's and Kaibos's baptism. Because it's going to be soon! Even though I've been saying that for Rudo forever.

I love being a missionary! Even though I'm getting drenched, I know I am doing the Lord's work and am planting many seeds. It stood out a lot to me as I've been door knocking so much this weekend--how fantastic the message we share is. I've realized there's great power in asking people what they would think if God called another Prophet to the earth today. It gets them thinking of the wonderful possibilty even if many of them choose to ignore it. I've also learned what a wonderful tool the Book of Mormon is in getting people interested in learning more, especially after they've told us they're Catholic. Many times they accept the free Book of Mormon and show interest in us coming back. So I'm looking forward to more similar experiences.

I love hearing all about your lives and wish you all the best! 

  

Just remember:
"True happiness comes only by making others happy"---David O. McKay

Keep doing what is right, and praying day and night!

Have a wonderful week!

I love you all so very much!

Love,

Elder David John Rowe

Talofa lava lava lava (January 16th/17th)

Hello My Wonderful Family,

It has been a wonderful week! But then again, all weeks as a missionary have been so, but this week was especially great. It has been great getting the hang of the area and meeting a lot of new people--especially all of the Samoans.

The most exciting news for me this week was that Violah's husband, Kaibos, came to Church! We visited Violah last Tuesday, and she told us that Kaibos wanted to come to church on Sunday. I couldn't believe it, but then he arrived home and confirmed it. He also wanted to learn more about the Church and hear the lessons. I was so happy! So we taught him on Wednesday, and then again on Friday. Both times he was so interested in learning all he could. Both times before we left, he ASKED for a commitment, for something that he could do before the next time we visited. He wants to learn all he can, and he loves all of it! I was so happy to see the four of them (Kaibos, Violah, Rudo and Mako) walk into church together as a family. Because Kaibos is now learning more about the Church, and coming to church, I think Rudo is more likely going to be baptized. Kaibos has even hinted at wanting Rudo to get baptized! And Violah has told us Rudo always says she wants to get baptized, but then the next day she says she doesn't . So this week, we're hopefully going to be meeting with her a lot more, because she was working last week a lot.

I just love seeing the happiness the gospel brings in people's lives.

We had Zone Conference on Friday. It was really great! President Jolliffe gave us a talk about repentance and how we can ALWAYS repent. It wasn't a guilt trip, of course, but just a reminder. Sister Jolliffe gave us a lesson about the importance of planning, and related it to how Heavenly Father and Jesus planned their creation of the Earth and it was all done with order.

Something from this week that has just really stood out to me was the blessing of having the Spirit guide us in this work. By listening to the Spirit, we found four new investigators in 30 minutes. We were able to teach Kaibos exactly what he needed to hear, and so many other things! I love it. I love being a missionary so much and serving the Lord by serving His children. I love being able to be in New Zealand and meet so many different people. But I love being a member of this Church and having the wonderful blessing to know of the truthfulness of Christ's restored Gospel. I hope you know I'm happy.

Thank you for all you do for me and bless my life with. I pray for you everyday and think of you often.

Happy Birthday to my favorite little girls named Anna and Jenny! They should be expecting something special in the mail next week. I don't know if that should be a secret or if you want to tell them and make them wait with anticipation. I think if you told them, they'll be asking you everyday if the mail has come yet, so maybe not. But I am sending them both something special, I just wish I was able to send it earlier.

I gotta go! And I will talk to you later! Have a wonderful day on Saturday! I will be thinking of how wonderful it will be to be in the Temple together.

Just remember:
"True happiness comes only by making others happy"---David O. McKay

Keep doing what is right, and praying day and night!

Have a wonderful week!

I love you all so very much!

Love,

Elder David John Rowe

Talooooooofa! Sunday, January 9 - Monday January 10

First, some photos:

Elder Rowe with his mission trainer, Elder MacTavish (middle) and the other elder trained by Elder MacTavish, Elder Murphy, who is from Hamilton, New Zealand (as is Elder MacTavish).

 

Elder Rowe (front) with the Mapuranga family -
Rudo, Mako and Violah (and Elder MacTavish)



Elder Rowe on Inglewood (admittedly it's Place not Drive),
the name of our former street here in Orem.



Elder Rowe with his two new companions - Elder Segi from Samoa and
Elder Prebble from Australia - knocking on the door of their own apartment.



The three Elders sitting down for a spaghetti dinner cooked by
Elder Prebble - note the mussel in Elder Rowe's hand!


And now the letter . . .

Talofa lava!

Greetings from the island of Samoa! Just kidding, I'm still in Christchurch. But as I didn't inform you last week, I am now in the Samoan program! Sort of. So, Elder Prebble and Elder Segi  and I are still in charge of the same area that Elder MacTavish and I were in (the Riccarton area), but now we also cover the Samoan ward, which is all over Christchurch for any investigators/members that speak Samoan. Luckily Elder Segi (pronounced Saing-ee [G's always make an NG sound]) was in this area a few months ago, so he knows the ward members and a lot of investigators.


So I'm totally speaking Samoan fluently now. I gave a talk yesterday at church in Samoan. It went really well. Just kidding. I did give a talk at church, but it was in the Riccarton ward. It was about Baptism, and I emphasized the covenants we make with God when we are baptized, and the wonderful promises He gives to us in return. And yes, it went well. Elder Prebble spoke about the Holy Ghost and how because of His influence, it makes those covenants easier to keep. I thought that was really cool that we spoke about the same things without correlating with each other beforehand. I was just given the topic of "Baptism" and he was given the topic of "the Holy Ghost" but we were both led to speak about the same things without even discussing it. So that was just a little manifestation of how the Spirit can guide us as we write talks. That's something I've noticed the importance of when writing talks. If we rely on the Spirit to help us to know what to say, then we'll say what is needed to be heard by the congregation. If we just try to write a talk by ourselves, then it's not going to have the same Spiritual impact on the listeners. And this goes with all forms of teaching, especially in lessons, which is something I'm really trying to work on. When we rely on the Spirit, the Spirit will touch the hearts of the investigator. If we rely on ourselves, then the investigator won't be as affected by it. I hope I'm making sense. After Elder Prebble and I spoke, Elder Segi bore his testimony.


After the 3 hours in the Riccarton Ward, our trio headed over to the Samoan Ward in Wainoni. It was such a crazy experience! It was my first time going to a ward where they didn't speak English. Actually, I'm pretty sure everyone can speak English, or at least understand it, but all of the meetings are in Samoan. So I didn't learn anything and have no idea what anyone talked about, but I loved it all! I love being able to be in the Samoan program and hopefully I will be able to say more than just Malo,Talofa, and Fafatai soon enough.


I love working with Elder Prebble (who goes home in 4 months, which means he's experienced as) and Elder Segi (who is Samoan, which automatically makes him cool). We get along really well and all have a determination to do our very best to progress the Work. We're probably only going to be in this trio for one transfer (the next 6 weeks) but we hope to make it the very best!


I know that Rudo is getting so close to deciding to be baptized. She's just been "too busy with work to read the Book of Mormon." This week is the one. She loves coming to church, so I know that if she will just start reading the Book of Mormon, she will get that wonderful desire to be baptized!


I'm sorry I can't say anymore or comment about your week, but thank you for all of your wonderful emails and words of inspiration!

 I gotta go! Fa!
I love you all so very much!


Just remember:
"True happiness comes only by making others happy"---David O. McKay

Keep doing what is right, and praying day and night!

Have a wonderful week!

I love you all so very much!

Love,

Elder David John Rowe
Elder Tavita Ioane Roue (I think that's how you say it all in Samoan)

Happy New Month

Dear my favorite family,

Happy New Year! It's weird to think it's already been another year. What an interesting one it has been! So much has happened, and all for the good, for me, that is. This year will be another wonderful one. I'm quite positive of that, being on a mission and all, it's pretty much guaranteed to be a great year. I hope it's a great one for you all as well! 

This week has been pretty slow, mostly because of the holidays. Kiwis seem to take the whole week between Christmas and New Years as a holiday, not just the 2 official holidays. So being unwanted made the work a bit slower. For New Year's Eve, Elder MacTavish and I partied at our flat starting at 5 pm. President Jolliffe told all of the missionaries that we had to be back at our flat by 5 pm for safety reasons. Starting at 4, Elder MacTavish and I starting hearing more than the usual amount of swear words directed at us, and we realized it was a good thing we were going home soon.

For New Year's, getting drunk is the Kiwi's way of celebrating, which I guess is what most people all over the world do. But luckily, nobody was having a party on New Years nearby our flat, so all was well. As part of our four extra hours of free time, Elder MacTavish and I did our weekly planning. Then we played some random games that you play while driving on vacation. So it was pretty fun. We didn't stay up until midnight though, the lack of sleep wasn't worth it.

And do we have a tradition of Chinese food on New Years in our family? Or am I confused? Because Elder MacTavish cooked us some Sweet and Sour chicken on New Year's Eve, and I realized I was fulfilling tradition! Or isn't the tradition more on New Years Day? Because some ward members brought us some leftovers from their afternoon "barbie" as well as some more Sweet and Sour chicken. So, either way, tradition fulfilled!

Everyone is getting so old! I can't believe Jenny is going to be 12 and going to the temple! That will be so wonderful. And Anna is getting braces as well! And later this year Melissa will be graduating and Katie capable of dating and Sara will be a Mia Maid!

It's not true! Melissa is only 14! and the rest of you ages down from there. Anna is still a 6 year old to me. Oh man.

So the biggest news is that transfers are this Thursday. Elder MacTavish will be going to Wellington, and I will be leading my 2 new companions around the Riccarton area. And yes I said TWO companions! We are going to be in a tri-companionship. It will be weird. But it should be great. Elder Prebble, from Aussie, will be replacing Elder MacTavish as the District Leader. I met him at the Christmas Conference and he's awesome. He's the one right behind my left shoulder in the South Island picture from last week. I will send one of the three of us in the near future. Elder Segi, the other companion is Samoan. I haven't met him. The weirdest part about all of this is that Elder Segi will be in charge of the Wainoni area, which is the Samoan program! So the three of us will be in charge of two areas. Two areas that are separated by two areas in between them. I don't know if any of this makes sense. But it all should by next week, I don't have any details besides this excerpt from the transfer announcement:

Elder Prebble -  Elder Rowe - Elder Segi

Riccarton -Wainoni

And I will be moving house. So it's all very crazy. So next week I will clarify it all, as to how our tri-panionship works, and about what it's like having a car and driving 15 minutes from Riccarton to Wainoni, and whether or not I will be learning Samoan. Yeah crazy. But sweet as.

I do need to share some spiritual things from this week. We saw Rudo twice this week. And we asked her a very important question. "Is there anything that we've taught you, that would make you not want to be baptized?" (It was better phrased than that). She said "No, I just need to know it's true." So she's continually praying for the answer and confirmation from Heavenly Father that everyone who gets baptized needs to get to know the truth. And so when she receives that witness through the Holy Ghost, we will set a baptismal date. The date we have in mind now is Saturday, January 22nd. :) So I will be sure to inform you next week how she's doing.

I think that's about all that's worth reporting. Enjoy your week back at school and work!

Just remember (and I hope it hasn't become cliche):
"True happiness comes only by making others happy"---David O. McKay

Keep doing what is right, and praying day and night!

Have a wonderful week!

I love you all so very much!

Love,

Elder David John Rowe