May 30th (or May 29th, depending on where you are)

Dear Parents and siblings of mine,

Hello! I'm glad to hear all of the wonderful news from home! How is school already over?! How is Melissa graduating? You're already going to California? It's still only October and winter is starting! Wow, it seems like this past week was a few months for you. I think I'm going crazy. Or maybe I'm just in another part of the world, yet living in my own world, that is much different than yours. Yeah, never mind.

It's been a good week, despite some adversity from some fleas who live in our home. But no worries. It only LOOKS like I have chicken pox on my arm. ;) 

Last Tuesday we had our final interviews with President Jolliffe. It was our last one before he leaves next transfer, so they were extra long and meaningful. He gave me some great advice that is something I've always been struggling with. Mission presidents definitely receive revelation for their missionaries which I'm very grateful for. 

I want to tell you about our most valuable investigator (I think that's the best way of referring to him as). His name is Chris, he's 19, and is from New Mexico. Yes, in America. His family moved here a few months ago for particular reasons and a month ago, when he first met the missionaries, the first thing he asked was, "What time is church? And where is it?" He's come every week since, wearing his 3-piece suit and cowboy hat (which he takes off of course before coming inside) and a bag with his Book of Mormon, Gospel Principles book, and a notebook. He already lives the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity and prays everyday, and comes to Institute on Thursday nights. He's read all the way up to Enos (he's probably in Mosiah now) in the past two weeks or so and already believes the Book of Mormon to be true. And he's already been thinking about how he's going to be saving enough money to serve a mission when the time comes.

And so you're probably wondering, "When's that boy getting baptized?!" which is what the members always ask us. Chris says "he'll know when he's ready." I just hope it's soon. An eight-year-old girl got baptized yesterday, so he got to see what it's like, and I think it helped. So we're just helping him to keep being amazing and making sure that we are answering his questions. 

In other news, we're teaching a family of five kids who love having us come over. But they actually listen and are there to learn about the gospel and not just play games. Duncan, Max, and Alicia are the 3 oldest (ages 14, 14 and 16) whom we were able to set baptismal dates with for the end of June. The only concern is having them get over being embarrassed about it because of their friends. We've seen their friends, and they're pretty scary. But then, maybe we'll start teaching them too and it will be great! 

As for Napier news, Lyn got baptized on the 21st! Elder Triantafillakos said it went fantastic, and I think that her two kids are getting baptized next week!

Well I gotta go! 

I'm so happy for Matt! Tallahassee! Chee-hoo! I can't really express how happy I am actually. It'll be amazing! And Congratulations to Eric and Mary! That's fantastic! Wow, that's soon, but hey, why not?

Anyway, I'll talk to you next week as you sit in the California sunshine...oh man.

Thank you for all you bless me and strengthen me with. I appreciate your prayers tremendously.

Faafetai lava!

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

I'm Wearing Short Sleeves Today, Though I Think We're Going to get Caught in the Rain - 5/22-23/2011



Elder Rowe working on a very special service project. The stuff in the back of the truck is exactly what you think it is.



You can see that he is enjoying himself.



Showing off his sweet kitchen skills, Elder Rowe attempts to liberate a frozen hot dog (he calls them "sausages" now)using a sauce pan as a hammer.

Hello Hello!

It's been another great week here in Levin. A lot of different and exciting things happen each and everyday.

Last Friday a member from the ward called us and asked Elder Cerros and I if we wanted to go and meet a friend of his to teach. We said yes of course, and so he picked us up in a big van with his son, his dog, and a trailer full of horse manure. We drove out to Hokio Beach, the more hillbilly part of Levin, where the lady lived. When we got there, he said "Get the spade out Elda." To make a pretty nasty story short, Brother Reiri's friend wasn't even home for us to teach, but she got a pile of manure dumped in her yard. At first I thought he was joking when he told his son to give the Elders a turn. But nope. He handed me the shovel and I started tossing the poo from the trailer to the spot next to her garden. Elder Cerros and I had to deep clean our shoes when we got home.

Being a District Leader is much harder work than I anticipated. But it's good for me. It keeps me humble and hard-working. It puts an added measure of stress into my life, which is also good for me. Sometimes. I think it keeps my missionary work from becoming too easy.

I've also been driving a lot this week, and so that's been special. I'm a safe driver, but yes, I'm sure I terrify plenty of people, including Elder Cerros, with my skills, or lack of, at driving. We take a lot of road trips--like to Palmerston North for district meeting, or to Otaki where some of our members and investigators live. So I try to bike as much as possible when we're in Levin.

I'm now fluent in Spanish and Samoan, so you know. I often speak in Spanish to Elder Cerros unintentionally--normally just simple, everyday questions like "Que hora es?" "Adonde vamos?" Donde esta los llaves? "Yo Necesito mi corbata." And other random things. I'm not sure if he likes it or not, but he likes my funny Hispanic/chinese-sounding accent. We often quote Nacho Libre--but only when appropriate. Like "why did you change your shirt?" 'It was... estiiinky."

I'm also learning more and more Samoan--just random things I pick up from members and the many Samoans who we meet door-knocking. The most important phrase that I know is "O te iloa O Le Tusi A Mamona e moni." "I know the Book of Mormon is true." I'm hoping I get to go to the Samoan program at least one transfer during my mission. But then again, they'll feed me too much.

Dad, and Robby, I'm doing my best to exercise every morning. I might need to buy some new clothes because they might not fit soon. Not because I'm been eating too much, but because I'm getting so buff! Just kidding. But it might be true.

  

Sorry, I'm out of time again. But I hope you have an amazing week and that you get plenty of summer sunshine as I try to keep warm and dry.

I love you and appreciate all of the love and support you give me.

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 sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo (to quote Sara) very much!

Love,

Elder David John Rowe



Photos from Levin - 5/16/2011



Elder Rowe's new back yard



Elder Rowe and his companion, Elder Cerros,  attempting to keep warm

Elder Rowe on a sweet bike borrowed from a member until his arrived from Napier

I'm Lovin' Levin - May 15/16 2011

Buenas Dias and Talofa Lava mi familia,

To answer everyone's most important question, I'm doing fantastic! I'm lovin' Levin and am very excited for what lies ahead. 

I rode the bus down from Napier on Thursday with 3 other missionaries and was pretty excited to give away a Book of Mormon on the bus to a guy from Chicago who was here on vacation. 

Levin is a wonderful little town. It's not that small actually, in the sense that there are plenty of people to meet and greet, but the area is pretty small geographically. We also cover an even smaller town about 30 minutes away called Otaki, and so I'll be using the car to go down there. 

My companion is Elder Cerros from Melbourne, Australia. He is "El Salvadorian" (his parents are from El Salvador) and so we always speak Spanish! Though he keeps saying I speak better Spanish than he does, even though he went to a Spanish ward in Melbourne. He's only been on his mission for 6 weeks, but no worries there, because he's already a pro. He knows the area really well and is a wonderful companion to be working with. We get along great and work together and teach in unity already! We're pretty amazing. That's not boasting.

Levin is such a wonderful area and I love it already. It seems like every other person we talk to wants to hear about the Gospel! So these next couple of weeks are going to be filled with teaching the Restoration! I'm very excited! Can you tell!? 

Something else I love about Levin is all the Samoans. I getting back into my roots and speaking Samoan again. I'm always quick to toss a "Talofa Lava" or an "Oa mai oi" to my brothers. Of course we always say the usual Kia Ora, but I know a lot more Samoan (like 5 phrases more) than I do Maori. And no one actually speaks Maori better than English so it's not really used all that much. But most of the Samoans who live here are still learning English. The kids speak English perfectly, and so the kids are sometimes translators for their parents. So that's why I'm working up on speaking Samoan, along with the Spanish with Elder Cerros. So I'll probably be fluent in 3 languages when I get home, even though I'm in an English speaking mission.

Anyway, other random facts I'm sure you'd want to know:

We live in a house, not a flat, but a house. It's pretty big for two teenagers to live in. And the backyard is the biggest one I've seen so far in New Zealand. Literally. Excluding farms of course. 

But I love it here, even though I still miss Napier. I'm happy. But then again, I always am.

I love you ALL very very much and can't truly express how much I appreciate all of the love and support I get from you.

So, Thank you

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

Omahu (Napier) Photos - May 16th

Here are some photos Elder Rowe took shortly before leaving Napier earlier this month.

Hawkes Bay Zone with Sister Joliffe (in the red vest)

Hawkes Bay Zone with President Joliffe (where Sister Joliffe was sitting in the last one)

Out of Omahu and Leavin' for Levin - 5/8-9/2011

Hello my wonderful family!

Happy Mother's day!

I'm anxiously looking forward to calling you and hearing your funny American accents.

Well, I'm leaving to go to the other side of the country (which really isn't that far) on Thursday! I'm being transfered over to Levin, in the Palmerston North Zone. Feel free to Google it, and find more about it than me before I get there.

So I'm nervous, but excited. Considering I'm leaving behind 3 Baptisms (Gabriel, Lyn, and her son Timana), it's pretty sad. (I'm also leaving Eamonn and Rebecca who should be getting baptized soon enough, but just aren't ready, for certain reasons, to set dates yet). I will send pictures next week of all of these wonderful people on the path to the Gospel.

I've greatly enjoyed being in Napier (our area is called Omahu, in case I haven't mentioned that), but I know Omahu is left in good hands with my man Elder Triantafillakos. To be quite honest, during the first 2 transfers. I think I was hoping I would leave for one reason or another, but I think that's why I stayed. And now that I don't want to go, I am leaving. The same thing happened with Christchurch. So I guess I should just stop loving my areas and I will be able to stay in them longer! Omahu has been a wonderful place, and I still keep thinking way far in the future about things pertaining to the Omahu ward, but then I remember I'm leaving, and so I say "Oh, yeah.... Well I hope that happens."

Omahu has been a great area for me. I've grown so much! I'm so much more of a talker than I was before and can actually hold a legitimate conversation with a stranger now.

Elder Triantafillakos and I have had a pretty good week. There wasn't any of the last minute rushes into baptism as I had hoped might happen with Rebecca or even Lyn, but it's probably much better that way. So I'm looking forward to a lot of emails from Elder Triantafillakos full of baptismal pictures.

The most exciting news of the week was last night when Gabriel Pere, The Man, quit smoking. As part of the stop-smoking program that we were FINALLY able to do last night, he crushed his pack of cigarettes and threw them across the room! When we first told him to crush them, his eyes went wide and he said NO Way! But then he stared at them for a few seconds, smashed them in his hand, and chucked them. He was so happy!  And we were so happy for him, because cigarettes have been killing him! More than it does for most people. And so he was so glad to make that step in his life and is even more excited to get baptized now.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, when I got to Levin, I will now be a District Leader. What?! I can't really believe it. But I also don't even know what to expect. I will explain more next week!

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

Hey! It's May! 5/1-2/2011

Hello my family!

I get to call you next week! I get 45 minutes to hear your beautiful voices! I hope to call you at 7:00 your time on Sunday, which is 3:00 my time on Monday next week. I might be able to call you the day before just to arrange it. Or we could actually arrange it through email on Monday. I'm sorry I'm so unprepared.

Lyn loves church and is very excited to be baptized still on the 21st of May. And her two youngest kids want to be baptized as well! We had a wonderful lesson with Lyn last week about faith and repentance. There wasn't anything particularly special about the lesson itself, but the Spirit was pretty overwhelming. She began to cry and told how when she first met us she planned on just being polite but then blowing us off after we shared our message with her. But she explained how her love for God has grown so much as we've been teaching her and she knows what she's doing is right, despite all of the doubts she's had and change of lifestyle she will have to make with her family and friends.

Rebecca didn't get baptized. She says she's not ready yet. She knows everything and has the strong desire to be baptized but she has a lot of concerns and doesn't feel she's ready to make such a commitment. But we're glad to know she realizes what a big thing baptism is and that she isn't just "hopping into the font." She's been reading the Book of Mormon again and it has definitely been strengthening her testimony. So, soon. She'll be getting baptized soon. She's very happy and loves church and learning about the Gospel, but there's something that's holding her back.

Though I think I say this same thing every other week, I learned a lot this week about talking with people and the importance of just opening my mouth and getting to know them. This week was pretty rainy so Elder Triantafillakos and I did a lot of walking with umbrellas rather than biking and gettting completely soaked. With umbrellas we are at least kept partially dry, but the wind still blows it sideways sometimes. In fact we both had to buy new umbrellas because the cheap ones we had before got broken by the wind. And so we bought some less-cheap ones and mine is broken. But it's all good! Anyway, because we were on foot and not speeding past everyone we saw, we got to know our fellow rain-walkers. One in particular was a girl named Jaimee. We were walking down to an investigator's home in the pouring rain when a girl, about 22, walks quickly by us on her way home from work. I made some dumb comment about "enjoying the weather?" and she laughed, but kept swiftly walking. But then I realized how selfish I was being and then yelled out "Do you want my umbrella?" She stopped and said "Yes, please!" So the three of us walked together (me umbrella-less) and she opened up and we talked casually. But then when she asked one of my favorite questions "Are you guys students?" "No, we're missionaries!"

So, to make a long story short, we had a good talk with Jaimee and then got to have a lesson with her the next night in the park and plan to see her early again this week. Jaimee, who was an atheist on Wednesday, now has regained that faith in Jesus Christ she once had and is excited to learn so much more!

I'm sorry this email is pretty short, random, and not jam-packed of goodness. I'm really short on time and today's kind of a wierd day. Next week will be better I promise. Especially because I'll be finding out where I'm moving to because it's end of transfers next week! Aah!

Melissa looks beautiful in her picture!.. as weird as I feel saying that...But you do! I love the Easter picture too.

Thank you all for your prayers and all the love and support I know you give me!

Happy Birthday to Robby again! and did you tell Matt I said so as well?

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

Easter! 4/25-26/2011

Hello my dear family!

Happy Easter! Or as they say in New Zealand, "Happy Easta!"

A big Happy Birthday to Robby and Matt!

On Tuesday, Elder Triantafillakos and I taught what I felt was the best lesson ever. It was a lesson with Richard, our new  golden investigator, whom we've been trying to sit down and have a lesson with ever since I arrived in Napier. He was a referral from the Christmas DVD campaign and we've tried week after week to get a hold of him ever since he first showed interest in learning more after watching the DVD. It took so long for a lot of different reasons: he wouldn't be home, he couldn't hear us knocking, he was busy with work that day, etc. But anyway, we finally caught him home on Tuesday and were able to talk to him about the gospel. He told us he is looking for religion in his life--he realized "there must be more to life" and he's always had questions about religion--and so that's why he's been so willing to have us come over even though it's taken three months to do so.

He invited us in, we got to know him, and then we shared with him the simply wonderful message of the restoration. We taught that God is our loving Heavenly Father who answers our prayers. One such prayer he answered was Joseph Smith's, which brought about the restoration of Jesus Christ's church. Richard is big into cars--he owns a couple of car shops around the area and has won a few awards in car shows for his classic cars. So we shared the analogy of restoring a car and restoring Jesus Christ's Church. The old classic car (the Church), needed to be restored back to its original design--not all beefed up like a hot rod-- as some people want Church to be today. He really liked that analogy and it gave him a much better understanding.

The thing that really made the lesson the best was the overwhelming Spirit that was there. It was the Holy Ghost that did all of the teaching, not us. The lesson was geared specifically for Richard and we were speaking to his heart, not just to his ears. I'm so grateful for the Spirit in this work because without it not much would actually happen. We're planning on seeing Richard again tonight, and I can't wait!

Rebecca is doing great! In fact, believe it or not, tonight we're re-committing her to baptism for this Friday. Seriously! She doesn't have school all this week so this week is the best time of any for her to prepare for everything. So please pray that she will have the understanding she needs and that she will be ready for this Friday to enter the waters of baptism. She is SO ready. She just doesn't know she is.

Lyn is still loving learning and came to Church again with her son. She is still excited to be baptized in May, and wants us to start teaching her kids as well so that they can be baptized with her.

All this week, I've been thinking so much about the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Elder Triantafillakos and I wanted to share as much as we could this week with everyone about the meaning of Easter. We had a particularly great lesson with Eamonn about it, and it gave him a totally new and better understanding of what Jesus Christ did for him.

I realized, however, that it's a pretty difficult thing to teach. I couldn't seem to ever find the right words to truly express our need for the Atonement, or even what it personally means to me. It's indescribable really. I can't properly explain how I feel or how grateful I am for my Savior, and His atoning sacrifice--that He did, personally, for me. And personally for you. I know that is because of Him that I can live again after I die; that I can be forgiven for the many things I do wrong and that I will one day return to live with Him, Heavenly Father, and my family, whom I love so much! I'm so grateful to be a member of this Church and to know of the these truths, as well as being a missionary and sharing this wonderful message of our Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for all your prayers, they mean so much to me.

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