February 27/28, 2012

The Elders on a clean up project

Love those yellow vests

Elder Rowe and his companion - They're a lot more soaked than they look

Dear Whanau,

Kia Ora, Tena Korou

It's been a most marvelous week of course in the Palmerston North. I'll try not to repeat myself, considering I wrote halfway through the week.

On Tuesday we had our conference and interviews with President and Sister Kezerian. It's always a treat to be able to learn, especially from your Mission President. I gained a lot about the importance of studying and techniqes in doing so, as well as sharing the Gospel in 30 seconds to someone on an elevator (not that we're ever in that situation, but a matter of letting people know who we are and how important the gospel is, as quickly as possible.)

After interviews, Elder Segi and I started our exchange with the Levin elders. Elder Siale from Tonga stayed in Palmy with me and we had a grand ol' time. I've thought for a while that islanders hate the rain, especially getting caught out biking in it, but Elder Siale is much different. On Wednesday we both really wanted to bike because we hate being in the car all day, even though the sky looked like it was just waiting to pour. But we went out and about not minding the light sprinkle that was falling on us. (I decided not to wear my rain jacket because Elder Siale left his in Levin, and it was too hot anyway. But we were fine all day. I was getting wetter from my slight perspiration than the mild precipitation, until right before dinner time, when we finished knocking some doors and the rains came a tumbling down. So it was fun! (See picture for further details on our enjoyment)

Other news of the week is our Stake service project on Saturday. With our yellow Mormon Helping Hands vests (which always seem to attract bees) our stake cleaned up Himitangi beach/town. There's was a pretty good turnout, and almost more people than work needed. (See picture for minimal amount of rubbish bags). Elder Segi kept commenting on how dirty the water looked (compared to Samoa) and I had to keep reminding him that he didn't need to go and get the rubbish that was out at sea. Just kidding, No swimming! Well i gotta go i love you!

I'm staying in palmy!

February 22/23, 2012

Elder Rowe goes to Wellington

Elder Rowe drives the gigantic mission van around the tiny, hilly streets of Wellington

Hello my dear family,

I hope you're all doing swell!

Sorry for the considerable amount of worrying I'm sure I caused you as you checked your emails for any sign of contact from your beloved son. I'm alive and all is well. I'm just a very busy man these days, as you know. I forget what happened last week because I keep thinking of this week's activities, but I will save those for next Monday's email.

So last week was good! I had another double exchange, but luckily I was in my area for half of the week, unlike before where I'd be gone for a week. Exchanges are the best! It's always awesome to be able to go and serve in another Elder's area and see what it's like there. When you stay on the exchange, you see a lot of miracles. Miracles always happen on exchanges. That's why it's always so great that we have them so often as Zone Leaders. Then again, miracles happen everyday.

Last Monday I stayed in Palmy with Elder Hunt while Elder Segi went to Fielding. Elder Hunt and I were able to have a great exchange with some powerful lessons. One particularly great lesson we had was with the Reiri family. Sis Reiri's cousin Mickey (from Japan) has been staying with them as she learns English at the university. Mickey has a hard time believing in God, but she has a strong desire to be able to. She's been to church a lot of times but this is the first time we've been able to teach her. We started with a simple fun lesson on the Ten Commandments. She really liked that and then the  lesson kind of turned to her asking more about getting an answer an answer to her prayers for herself about the reality of Heavenly Father. We talked about the feelings of the Spirit as well as the things she needs to do, such as continually pray, read the Book of Mormon, and come to church.

It's hard to explain, but it seems like the lesson with the people who always seem to have the least belief in God are always the most spiritual lessons. I always feel strongly of the Holy Ghost as we testify of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the love they have for us.

The second half of the week was my exchange with Elder Lemalu, who is one of the Assistants down in Wellington. My adventure in Wellington was a brand new one this time, mainly because I had to be the one driving because Elder Lemalu doesn't have his license. For whatever reason, the only car the Assistants have is the beefy 9 passenger mission van, which is the craziest thing to have to drive around Wellington of all places. The streets of Wellington are about half the width of a regular street, plus going up and down the hills, plus they have random shaped intersections that you can only know where to turn if you've been there before. And you have to do all of this at normal speeds. I was constantly having to change lanes because the lane I would be in would become a turning lane. Elder Lemalu had to honestly direct me where to go the entire time. And I don't mean the normal "turn left up here" but "go into the left lane, take this first left and go directly right. Slow down around this corner and come a bit more left so the passing cars can get by." It wasn't because Elder Lemalu was super annoying or a back seat driver, but because I desparately needed continued guidance of how to drive a giant van through the smallest streets I've ever seen. I always felt I was going to scrape the sides of the parked cars as I drove past as Elder Lemalu told me to "come more to the left so you don't scare the cars coming this way by driving in their lane. I'm a pro now though. I could probably fly a plane after learning to drive like that. It's almost as crazy as the driving in Brazil was, except there are actually lines on the road here.

Many wonderful things are happening in Palmy, and it's always a joy to find a new investigator or teach that first lesson to someone and see their excitement to learn more about the restored gospel of Christ. From what I've been told, I'll be staying in Palmy for another transfer, though I still don't quite believe it. But next Monday will be the final results, so we'll confirm then.

Well I gotta go,

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

Feb 12/13, 2012



Elder Rowe at sunset

Elder Rowe and his companion smile awkwardly as a drunk guy snaps a photo for them

Elder Rowe in a moment of joy

Malo soifua!

Greetings from the ever changing Palmy (weather-wise I mean). It's funny how your winter has been much hotter than expected, while mine has been much cooler than expected. Summer already seems gone! Can you believe I've only worn short sleeves once this entire summer? And that was only because I had to wash all of my long sleeves that day. Palmy has got perfect weather. Sometimes.

It's been another great week! I went up to Hawera this week for the 4th and probably last time. I was with Elder Lammi again, my Australian mate whom I met 17 months ago in the Aukland airport. We had a good time talking to a lot of "elderly people"--less active members who we were trying to invite to the chapel open house they were having this weekend. We realized three hours later, after visiting to houses that it's pretty difficult to have a "quick chat" with people who haven't had visitors in a while. But it was good. We also got to take some awesome photos. There are others we took, but I didn't want to make you too jealous of me.

Palmy is doing great! All this transfer, Elder Segi, my Samoan soa, and I made a big effort to work more closely with the members of the ward, and have been emphasizing the same thing within our zone to the other missionaries. And we have been seeing great success with it. I've been in Palmy for five months, and I thought I knew the members and the city pretty well, but these past couple weeks, it's become like a whole new area for me. Though with all the same good things from before. We've been getting to know the members very well and as we visit them they've been continually offering to do Family Home Evenings with our investigators. We've got one tonight with two cousins that we're teaching and a family with daughters the same age. So it will be great!

We've also been getting a lot of referrals. Which i've actually never gotten much of before in my mission. There's one particular brother in the ward who usually gives a Book of Mormon away each week, and that fire is spreading the other members as well.

So, I love Palmerston North. And most members actually know my name now. Though there's one who still calls me Elder Lowe.

Have a wonderful week! Thanks for your continual love and support.

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

February 5/6, 2012 - Waitangi Day

Elder Rowe out on the farm with the lion cow

Elder Rowe meets up with the cuzzies

Climb every mountain, ford every stream

A lovely New Zealand sunrise



The coolest house the Elders tracted all day. Fortunately no one was home
(allowing for the photo op)



Hello Hello!

Happy Waitangi Day!

What's the Superbowl? Is that like Lawn Bowls, the game where elderly people dress in white and roll heavy balls on a  grassy field?

I actually had no idea that it was the superbowl today. Haven't heard any announcement of it. I knew about it last year, particularly because we were in a Sports shop on the P-day it was being played. But yeah, is it the Yankees against the Lakers this year?

Today has been a great day already! Today is Waitangi Day in NZ and so it's a public holiday with most people off of work. So we had a Ward Picnic. It was great! We had about 12 non-members there, 8 of which Elder Segi and I brought ourselves. In fact, we biked to their house this morning, to the top of town where they all live (3 different families who are neighbors/friends) and we all walked down to the park where the barbecue was. It was about an hour long walk with the parade of 8 adults and two kids walking with Elder Segi and I. And the picnic was great! We had some crazy games like field hockey and dodgeball set up and then a big feed. We introduced all of our investigators to everyone, personally of course, not all at once, and they felt so...welcomed. Even though we were in the middle of a crowded park with strangers all around, the ward was able to help our investigators fit right in. What made it especially great for Elder Segi and I, was as we were leaving, our investigators thanked us thoroughly for inviting them and also for "picking them up." So yep, great things will continue to come with our friends in Highbury.

Another exciting thing of the week was our adventure day on Friday. All of the missionaries in the New Zealand Wellington Mission had a Farmer's Friday, where we all left our busy cities and went out to the farming and more rural areas of our wards. So Elder Segi and I drove out to our ward mission leader's house who lives outside of town on the army base and parked our car there. We got the bikes off of the rack and went looking for those lost sheep. Ten Seconds after we started biking, we got pulled over by the cops. But there wasn't any problem, they were just wondering what we were doing. We had been to Bro. Hunters house a lot of times, but I guess the military police were a bit concerned when they saw two missionaries biking around. But we weren't proselyting in there just biking to the areas outside of it, so they sent us on our way.

It was a great adventure we had, and the same was with the other missionaries we had talked to. Farmers have really long driveways, and some of them have dogs. But luckily, we didn't have too many problems the rest of the day. We were able to meet a lot of bizarre animals though. There was a lady with like 7 donkeys and/or ponies guarding her house, with a fence inside of her fence. Elder Segi and I weren't sure if it was dangerous or not to walk through a barrier of donkeys to talk to someone who seemed quite private. But we talked with her neighbor, who was her son, and he said she would probably swear and throw things at us if we went in, so it was probably best that we didn't take the risk. Her son became a new investigator though, and he's quite willing to learn more about the church than just what he knows from watching South Park.

Everything else is going quite nice. We've been working really closely with the members of the ward and they have been helping us heaps! I mean, a vast amount. Alcohol is a continual problem we've been dealing with lately. But then again, I guess the main concern is just getting our investigators to keep praying everyday and not forgetting. I've gained a great understanding of the importance and power of daily prayer. One, for myself and how it's helped me, but also the great negative effect it has on our investigators when they don't pray. Just those simple things can make a huge difference. "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass." However, by not doing small and simple things, great things we want to happen, don't "come to pass."

Well I gotta go! I love you so!

ttyl

Love,

Elder Rowe

January 29/30, 2012



The Elders

Elder Rowe isn't sure these shoes are going to last him another 7 months

This one is no doubt self explanatory



Hello my wonderful family,

I'm glad to hear all is well in Roweville.

It's been a wonderful week here in Palmerston South. And I'm looking a lot more muscular than usual. Not really, but Elder Segi and I have been biking almost everyday this week and have had great success because of it. I've been pretty spoiled for a while and have used the car too much. But Elder Segi and I realized that bikes are the way to go, and not just because we ran out of our allotted Kilometers usage in the car for the month. REAL missionaries use bikes. (That excludes senior couples. Real senior couples use cars...). But we're able to find so many more people to teach as we bike and stop to talk with them, and I don't get as sleepy during the sunny afternoons. So I love biking. Then again, I've never been in a hilly area like Wellington or Dunedin, so I might regret saying that.

Some of the miracles of the week: We're teaching a single mom with a young baby (then again I'm pretty sure every missionary has at least one investigator who is a single mom) whom we've been visiting for a while, but she hasn't made too much progress. On Wednesday, we taught her about repentance, forgiveness and the Atonement by reading Alma 36. She had a lot of concerns about being forgiven and also having to forgive others who've hurt her in the past. But as we testified of the reality of the Atonement and shared more scriptures she knew what we were saying was true. But the best part, was that she said the closing prayer, and she never has before, she refuses to. But she happily said it at the end of this lesson and it was long and sincere, as if she's been praying for years. Also, she hardly ever prays alone, she told us, but when we visited her a few days later she had had a prayer that night and was able to be comforted with a lot of her concerns. So, the Church is true.

Another little miracle we had the other day, was when we went to the house for the first time of a guy we had met the other day at Burger King. We knocked on the door and asked if Robert was home. She said she had just moved in the other day (she is another single mom with a baby), so we were disappointed at first, but we realized she seemed pretty happy to see us. We kept talking with her and asking about her religious background and all. She has been searching for a church to join. Ever since she's had her son, she's been really interested in learning more about the Gospel. We testified to her of our unique message and it's truthfulness and she invited us back for tomorrow. So we're way excited!

I've been getting asked a few times, (because I'm American) what I think of the Mitt Romney stuff, but I don't really have much to say about it besides "pretty cool eh?" And then get them back on a Gospel subject before they start arguing about politics. But it is pretty cool. Though I remember that email you got during the last election that talked about how weird it would really be to have Mitt Romney as President (going to church or the temple for example and needing Mormon security guards).

Elder Segi and I are doing wonderfully and miracles are continuing to happen in Palmerston North, despite the many dissappointments when investigators get caught up in worldly things. I love it here and can't wait to see all that lies ahead.

gotta go! I love you

Love,  

Elder Rowe

January 24/25, 2012

Talofa lava!

Sorry I'm so late. I'm a very busy man nowadays. On Monday we had our usual Zone Leader Council down in Wellington for the start of the transfer. Yesterday we were busy planning and preparing for our District Leader Council (which we had today) and were busy with lots of lessons. So here I am.

Thank you for the lovely birthday wishes. And Happy Birthday again to the two grown-up monkeys. (Anna and Jenny)

Are you as shocked as I am that I'm 21 years old? I don't remember birthday celebrations of certain years being all that big of a deal (or maybe I just didn't go to enough parties), but here in New Zealand, and Australia as well, a 21st birthday is the biggest thing ever. People plan the party for weeks and invite everyone they've ever met to the event. There's also a big foot-long "key" that they get, usually carved out of wood, and shows that they now have freedom to do whatever they want or something. I don't know, but people are usually suprises when they find out we don't have a drinking fest on our 21st birthday. And of course, I didn't, though now I'm legal to (though the age is actually 18 in NZ.) It was a pretty good birthday yesterday, as I'm sure you're wondering what I did. Not much really. It was Sunday so that made it really nice, because it was a really good day at Church. I wasn't planning on telling my companion Elder Segi, but he found out Saturday that it was my birthday when I got a card in the mail from the Kezerians. But it was a good birhday, to say the least.

It's been a very interesting week though. On Thursday, we said our goodbyes to the legendary Elder Kava, who is now back in Sydney and probably at the beach. He's going to Orem in June to visit his trainer Elder Oldham (who lives near Mountain View) and he plans on going to visit you all while he's there and tell you how awesome I am. Or maybe tell you how much I got on his case. We're good friends. But Make sure he plays the piano for you. And the guitar.

It's great to back with Elder Segi. Did you remember I was with him in a threesome for two weeks  before I left Christchurch? So now we get to be real companions, and we are already tearing it up. Well, i'm just following his lead. We have a lot of really great people we are teaching, and many wonderful things will be happening. We are teaching some people whom the Lord has truly prepared to recieve the Gospel,all we have to do is teach them the things they've been searching for. Just hopefully they'll get baptized before i leave the area. You know how that works.

Well I gotta go, but I will send some pictures next week, I seem to have misplaced my backpack between here and Wanganui.

Thank you for everything you do for me! And I look forward to admiring your artistic abilities once they arrive.

Well I gotta go! I love you so 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

January 15/16, 2012

Elder Rowe and Elder Tukuafu

Elder Rowe in Farm Country

Malei famili! Fefe hake?

Happy Birthday to Anna and Jenny! I can't believe it! Another birthday? Is Jenny 11 yet? Is Anna getting baptized next month now that she's 8?

Guess how to say Happy Birthday in Tongan, it's pronounced"Hap-py Birth-day." haha I asked Elder Tukuafu how to say it, and he said " I don't know...We just say it in English." So there you go girls "Happy Birthday in Tongan"

It's been a good week! Exchanges are finally finished! until next transfer that is... But it's been a lot of fun, and a lot of amazing learning experiences.

This week I was in Hawera (again) and Waitara (again), so it was another long couple of days out of my area. But it's always fun.

On Monday for P-day we traveled up to Wanganui to meet halfway with the Hawera Elders for exchanges. And I finally got to play Cricket! I've been waiting my whole mission! But baseball is still so much better. But I chose not to insult any of the Australian Elders who played it back home, nor the brother from the ward who's from India and I'm pretty sure he's a professional. But cricket is pretty fun, and it was really cool because we had a lot of missionaries there who were also doing exchanges. I have great plans to introduce non-American sports to Utah when I get home. And actually be able to win at something for a change.

But anyway I was in Hawera from Monday to Wednesday, and it was pretty funny to be there after being in Wellington the previous week. It's a farming town and a good majority of the members in the branch live outside of town and on farms. That's why I was able to score my tractor picture. Sadly, Mount Taranaki was covered in clouds, because it's just to the right of the picture. But that would have made the picture just a bit too amazing and people would want to start putting it on postcards and magazines. Particularly the front cover of the Ensign? Anyway, Hawera is a good little place, and Elder Sayers and I got to go visit my investigators from Palmy, Frankie and Stormi, who were visiting Frankie's mom in a neighboring town. I almost just wrote village, because it really is that small.

On Wedesday, Elder Tukuafu drove all the way back up for us to switch companions, and then he drove another three hours back home to Palmy with another missionary while I went to Waitara with Elder Strasser. Waitara is another tiny town on the oceanside, with another great view of Taranaki, which again, was covered with clouds. It was good to be on a bike again. I've been using a car far too long. I realized I'm not as fast or fit as I once was in previous areas and Elder Strasser realized the same as he continually had to pause or slow down and wait for me to catch up. The same thing happened on Saturday when Elder Tukuafu and I were biking around. Except he wasn't as much of a wait-er while I struggled to keep up with the Tongan with massive legs.

In other news, our investigators are doing really well. We have a lot of great people we're working closely with, many of which are unmarried. But that just means more weddings I get to attend. I haven't been to one yet, but these ones will be happening!

We're also having a lot of investigators coming to church. It's always so great to see investigators at church! Especially when they stay for all three hours. Because it's then that they really come to feel of the love that is available to them--from their Heavenly Father, but also from the ward members who get to sit down and get to know them better in Priesthood or Relief Society.

One of our main investigators who's been coming to church is Stevie. She's 18 and is working towards being baptized at the end of this month. Last night, she was invited to dinner by the family in the ward who we've asked to take her to church. It's hard to describe how happy that made me. We went to their house as well for dinner, and it was wonderful to see the love that the Cottons showed to her. Even though she's a pretty quiet girl, and there's not really anyone in the family her age, I could tell how comfortable she felt there, and the love that is felt in the home of members because of the Spirit. It was great, to say the least. Inviting people to dinner is always the best!

Well, it's transfers time again. And we couldn't believe it when we found out. But Elder Tukuafu is leaving, and I'm staying, which will make it 6 months for me here in Palmy. So he's pretty gutted, because Palmy is the best. I'm really excited though, not because he's leaving of course, but because my new companion is my Samoan brotha, Elder Segi. I was with him for two weeks in Christchurch in our trio, and now we get to be Zone Leaders together. This zone is going to be way too powerful. Expect miracles.

Have a wonderful birthday girls! Enjoy your birthday dishes thoroughly, because I'll be dreaming of them. I just hope Anna will able to chew!

Well I gotta go! I love you so 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