The Late P-Day (February 22/23)

Dear my beloved family,

Hey! How's it going? I apologize for the late email and any concern it may have caused. Yesterday we had Zone Conference and so P-day was moved to today.

Elder Triantafillakos and I spoke in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was my first real, non-read talk (meaning I didn't read it word for word, but had notes and looked at the audience). But it worked! It was long enough and said what I wanted to. I talked about Agency and basically said how we can always choose our actions, and by choosing that we are choosing th consequences. So, We can choose happiness by keeping the commandments, or we can choose sorrow, pain and grief, by choosing to sin. So of course, we all want to choose to keep the commandments.

Zone Conference was great by the way. President Jolliffe talked about Finding, and how we should always be doing it because the more people we talk to the more people we teach; and the more people we teach, the more people who get baptized, and the more people who get baptized, well, the more people who receive such wonderful blessings that come from it! It seems like a pretty obvious statement, but I think sometimes we forget it as missionaries to talk to EVERYONE. How else will they know about the Gospel? (There are of course the few exceptions where people shout out to us and ask US questions).

The work has still been going pretty slow here in Napier. I think that's because most people are elderly and set in their own ways of religion. But Elder Triantafillakos and I are still making progress and are trying to be more creative in our finding techniques (compared to just knocking on doors and saying the same usual things).

Also at Zone Conference, Sister Jolliffe talked to us about helping our investigators overcome addictions. It was extremely helpful. LDS Family Services has a booklet that addicts can use and write  in to track their progress. The steps to stopping the addiction are all based on gospel principles. Addicts learn to rely on the healing power of Christ and not just on themselves to overcome their problems.

We also were told the news of who the new mission president is going to be. They're from Orem, Utah. And their last name is Kezerian. Do you remember my friend Courtney? It's her parents. At least, I'm 90% sure that they are. President Jolliffe said their youngest daughter just got married, which Courtney did, and so it's pretty funny. I don't really know them very well and I'm quite positive they have no idea who I am. So it'll be interesting having them as my new mission president in July.

As for the rest of the week, it was good, as usual. Strangely, for something like three days in a row we met someone who talked to us for a very long time. That doesn't happen very often. We were standing up for the entire time, so my knees got pretty sore. They were a Muslim man, a Seventh-day Adventist lumberjack and a Christian woman whose lawn we mowed (in our church clothes. They were all super nice to us as we shared with one another our beliefs. I find it pretty amazing how some religions are so close to the truth but are just missing some very important details that are preventing them from realizing it. So I'm very grateful for the knowledge we have of Christ's gospel as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that we're being led by a prophet today. It's so great! (and that's an understatement).

Matt and Jenny and the kids (whom we now call the Zalewski's, because that's Matt's last name of course) are doing great still.  They still haven't been able to come to church yet though because things keep coming up. I know that once they do, they will be able to progress a lot faster. Elder Triantafillakos and I have been emphasizing having prayers every night, individually and as a family. We made "prayer rocks" (rocks that say "prayer" on them) with the kids to help them remember whenever they see it before they go to bed to pray.

Rebecca (the Chinese woman who I mentioned last week) is also doing great! (I really need to find a better word than "great".)  She's definitely understanding so much more about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and she's finding much more joy in reading the scriptures. She reads select verses in her Mandarin Book of Mormon and then in the English one and she's able to comprehend what we want her to learn much easier. We keep trying to get her to come to Church, but she says she gets car sick. I don't think that's really what her concern is.

In answer to one of Dad's questions: "Tomato sauce," which is put on just about everything here, is different than ketchup. Sort of.

I'm sorry i can't say more!

Just remember:
"True happiness comes only by making others happy"---David O. McKay
Keep doing what is right, and praying day and night! And reading your scriptures too!

Have a wonderful week!

I love you all so very much!

Love,

Elder David John Rowe