5th Email Home July 26, 2014

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU AND DAD DO FOR ME! You are the best parents! I got the dear elder message and it was awesome and when I got the box with cookies with Molly's letter, also when I finally saw the pictures I cried, tears of joy! I'm truly blessed to have a loving family and all the support you guys give me I couldn't ask for a better family, I know that some of our family isn't active, but I will ask that the Lord will preform mighty miracles in their life's I will not give up! I care so much for my family, I will do my best to help my family and also bring others to have the greatest happiness that we have!  

        This past week has been an wonderful blessing to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and my companions, as the Spirit is with me my experience at the MTC has been pure happiness and love towards others, the Holy Ghost has helped me in understanding the language and letting me know that I will learn the language. I had a resent experience as me and my companions Elder Caldwell (He's was adopted, but was born I think in the Marshal Islands), and Elder Portlock. (He's a track runner and knows everyone at the MTC pretty much, he is from Riverton, UT) The experience began when I was doing an interview with both Elder Caldwell and Elder Portlock, because I'm district leader now, but they're the zone leaders, but as we were going down the questions I was focusing on Elder Portlock, then the spirit told me "that you need to talk to Elder Caldwell" so I focused on Elder Caldwell for a second and trying to think of a way to ask my other companion to leave,but it would've been obvious that there's something wrong, so I didn't say anything until the end of the interview I said " I feel that there's something troubling you" and he said " If there was something that was on my mind I would tell you" so I just thought it was a random thought, but when my companion Elder Portlock went to the bathroom, Elder Caldwell said" Man you are really good at knowing how people are feeling", but sadly I forgot to the say that it was the spirit that told me, I was just a messenger nothing more. I cannot express my gratitude for all the things the Lord has blessed me with, the best way to repay some of things he has given me is by serving him, but even on my mission I still owe him everything. I have never felt the spirit this strong and I don't ever wanna lose this feeling, it's given me a positive attitude and has let me recall more words then I could ever do on my own, I have also experienced the feeling of inviting someone to be baptized and when he said yes then my love to get more to others to come unto Christ increased off the charts it's the best feeling above all other worldly things.

    I have a couple questions, do I have to activate my card or can you? Can I get more of those stay collar things? I forgot to take them out so I lost like half and the rest are bent.....

Please tell Brandon that I love him (not a joke) and I'll pray for him with all the Lord gives me, and also Darill if they are not back in the church, I will rain the holy ghost upon them tenfold. I hope that Wayne will find that church is not just a bunch of lessons and bread and water, it's to strengthen our relationship with our father in Heaven and feel a sense that he can change by the partaking of the sacrament, I want our family to be eternal, I can't imagine our family separated, it hurts when our family is pushing away, I want our happy family back together when I get back off my mission. PLEASE SEND me dear Elder's when ever you have anything to say it's awesome to receive anything from family and others.Lo siento I can't explain each photo my time is up. :/

Chad was missing Molly so Molly wrote him a letter!

Mailing Info for Chad MTC

I called the MTC and got the correct mailing address for Chad while he is at the MTC until Aug 4th:

Chad Douglas Rowland
AUG04 MEX-TXZ
2023 N 900 E unit #841
Provo, UT 84602

Email:

chad.rowland@myldsmail.com

4th Email Home July 19, 2014

I really enjoyed getting that care package and the cookies are awesome! My time here at the MTC has been a very awesome and spiritual experience and we are losing our other district and we get to explain to the next district what they need to do and I'm getting excited for the mission field and kind of nervous, because of this language, but I know I can learn this language! My companions are young and immature, but they have a spirit that can truly testify of the truthfulness of this gospel, they are my closest friends I have out here and I'm grateful for the opportunity. It's hard to think that I'm going to be in Mexico in 2 weeks and going to be teaching the people there, after I get this language down I will enjoy my mission even more and I'm not saying that my mission is gonna suck when I get out there, but when I can fully understand what my investigators are really saying I can do so much more for them. My days have been really crazy and also my attitude, some days I'm feeling successful and others I feel negative, but I try to remember to say that"I can" and "I will" and that comforts me. I often feel that I coming home soon like I'm at a youth activity or something, but then I realize that hey I'm on a mission and I always feel happy that I'm on a mission! I really look forward to getting pictures of the fam soon and hope everything is going well at home and I hope Brandon will come back to church before I come back or else when I come back I'm going to have a hardcore break down of the gospel! I know that the work I'm doing is the honest and true thing, I know without a doubt that this church and the gospel is true as well! I LOVE YOU MOM&DAD(I figured that it would be easier to just write both of you on one message) P.S. tell Moll bears I love her! the first picture is me with one of my companions and I think 2 of the sisters are going to my mission as well!

3rd Email Home July 12, 2014

I'm glad you had fun with grandma, tell her that I love her! I hope that missionary momma's retreat can prepare you, while I'm away. I'm so grateful to that be an example to the family. The MTC is very hard, but I love the spirit that's here it's so great, I'm just trying to learn this language it's hard, but others seem to learn it and become fluent so why wouldn't I be able to.On July 7, 2014 I wrote what my take was on the MTC. Each day gets harder to wake up and study the language, the MTC I thought it once was easy now I see it as a trial. The MTC is a hardcore faith builder, it tests everyone's faith and some people have there faith tested so much that it's to much and they go home. I think if they would've stayed a bit longer they would feel the love of the Lord and continue their missions. As for me as I've been tested I feel like no body likes and that I know nothing, but I can say that Satan is working extra hard at bring down the Lord's warriors and we must remain strong at all times wearing the armor of God and wielding the sword of Spirit and in the other hand the shield of Faith, waiting for Satan to strike again and I'll be ready. I feel sorrow for my brother Brandon, because I want him to come unto the Lord with all my heart and I hope that he feels the love of the Lord as I'm away, and knows that I truly love him and want to develop a love for those I come in contact with and the will know my love for them that this church is true! 

I hope that all I have written is enough if you need more I can be sure to share 2 pages a P-day or whats on my mind, I love you so much and I hope that you guys can live without me for 2 years! Oh! The zipper on my book bag flew off, I tried fixing it, but no luck and there's an Elder named Elder. Smart and I guess he's related to Brother Peterson. Anyway talk to you later. 

2nd Email Home July 5, 2014

Thank you sooooooooo much for the care package we check the mail everyday, I'm always grateful for any gift I get from family or friends it helps a ton! I would ask if you could send me more socks for gym and other activities, because we can only do laundry on Saturday and my regular socks are always getting dirty, I'm also running out of my deodorant I use the old spice Matterhorn. It's is so hard to say that my companion is no longer with me he has a strong testimony and knowledge of the gospel, but some thing was eating at him he wasn't feeling worthy to serve a mission, he prayed about it and it was clear that he was to go home. I later that night I prayed for him, and I cried unto the Lord for like 20 minutes to help him and I'm trying to adjust to not having a companion, it's weird I only knew him for only a week and yet I had great love towards him. I am looking forward to serving in the Mexico, Tuxtla Gutierraz mission. I will help as many people come unto Jesus Christ! I hope I get to see my whole family when I come home. I know that missionary work is the honest and true work of Jesus Christ. I also write in my journal every night as well, it's been very helpful to remind me of passed events and feelings. I'm sorry that I couldn't give a full report do to how much time we are given (1 hour) i'll try focusing on the details next week I love you soo very much with all my heart and I miss the family so much as well. I got to see the amazing fireworks at the stadium of fire from a distance and I could barely hear Carey Underwood it was very fun and spiritual experience that night! 

Elder Rowland & Elder Barker

Trip to The Provo Temple

I'm going here!

First Email Home June 28, 2014

Dear Family,
I love it here at the MTC! I'm learning a lot with my companion Elder. Barker, he has been helping me through all my troubles and hard times at learning the new language. I feel like the MTC is my new home. when I first got here I was nervous I didn't know what to do and I could barely eat like 3 bites at most, but i'm getting excited for my Mission in Mexico, this place is tough sometimes, but i'm learning to overcome and adapt.

 My first day they told me and my companion that we were gonna have to teach a Investigator, but then we found out that he was just an actor, so after I heard that I felt calm and ready to teach, but I was no where near prepared to teach him, and my companion had like two full pages, so I was so under prepared. The investigator also spoke in spanish so, we had to prepare in spanish and we had to teach him how to pray in spanish which was very difficult, because the words were hard to pronounce, we weren't thinking about how to we explain to him how to pray so that lesson bombed. lol 

  Im learning the language slowly, but surely and i'm taking notes. Our teacher brother. Dolbin is sooooo great and funny he is the best teacher to have when learning spanish, all the teachers speak in their language as much as they can to get the language drilled into our heads, and people that told me that the MTC was very difficult, must  have went to another MTC cause, this one is so much fun and filled with the spirit.

 My daily things I need to do every monday-friday is get up at 6:00 AM, take a shower and get breakfast, then head to personal study and companion study, then head to class and study more language, then head to lunch, then more class in studying, head to dinner then back to class again and end the day with a devotional then it starts all over again the next day.

   Today was very awesome woke up, at 5:45 AM got ready for service for cleaning the buildings, then had the wonderful opportunity to attend endowment session at the Provo temple. The Provo temple was so beautiful and had so many awesome features, but I think that the presentation could have been a little updated, but over all the experience was so powerful, and I love the feeling when people are so happy to see missionaries it's so great.

 Well, I know that this message isn't that long, but if you have anything you want to ask me just email me or mail me a letter, and only on saturdays I can check my emails so I hope you guys can wait that long. I love you guys so very much! Tell Molly I love her! lol. send hugs and cookies! lol    

My First Companion Elder Barker

Learning the language