57th Email Home July 20, 2015

Hello?

( I asked Chad how far he was from the ocean and if he has been able see it)

I cant see the ocean, but there is a HUGE Volcano here we can see all the mountains and compared to this volcano they are nothing, but I heard its not active... boring... We have a few new investigators, but they arent progressing. Molly is sooo funny and still the same puppy dog! I hope she never changes! 

This Saturday we have a baptism and we will be praying a lot for all the others that haven't accepted the message!

This week has been good, we have been trying to get more members to accompany us, but almost always in the last minute they tell us they can't, its okay, just we need to have friends for the investigators so they feel comfortable and if they have any questions the members can help them and if they dont know we're always available to help! Tonight we are having  family home evening with the Bishop and his family and we are going to make BROWNIES and not the cheap kind! 

 Tapachula has been good, it always starts off hot in the day and about 6 it starts to be cloudy and dark and it starts to sprinkle and nothing more. Everyone tells us that its not the same, it usually rains like rivers and winds really strong, but I havent seen anything that bad. Oh, I think it was tuesday when we had another water problem! We woke up like all the other days and after saying our prayers, I put my feet in my slippers and I looked at the floor and it looked polished and I moved my feet and I said," WHAT! Again!" the whole floor was covered with water even more than the last time, my journal was on the floor and so suffered the consequences! Now I need to repair the book, because the cover fell off... the suitcases got wet again so I put them a little higher and all of this happened in the night time and everyone said that it was so bad the wind was super strong and I want to say that the streets were flooded more than ever, but I got some rest in! Woot! 

  I am good with my socks that I have right now, I will use them until theres nothing left! Their is a member that wants me to buy scripture covers for my bible and Book of Mormon, but its outrageously priced, for skin of a Boa snake its like 55 dollars and for crocodile its 65 dollars! He told me that its real, he brought the Boa skin to church to show me, its nice, but expensive! 

  The time with my companion has been great and I have been learning a lot from him, our experiences here in the mission are priceless and I am grateful to have made it this far and to have known the people in every area. Sorry, I didnt take pictures this time only a Iguana that was trapped in one of the class rooms of the church!( I dont know how, but it there and it was real!) and a Dog that thought it was a human for a second.

Love you more than anything or anyone on the earth!
I gtg!

56th Email Home July 13, 2013

The brother Carlos is very attentive to what we have to say and he seems interested, the thing is that he has a hole in his face and wont come to church, he tells us its, because he cant be out in the sun a lot, but I think hes probably thinking of what others might say about his face, which is understandable, we just need to build up his courage to go and to feel the spirit! Oh! Good news! Poaki and Fernando have a date to be baptized this month on the 25th, which is next saturday! They are so excited to get baptized and I cant wait for another baptism! I LOVE'EM!!! 

  I love the topic" The Infinite Atonement" it brings a comfort to all those who really feel the power of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, the reason for going to church every week is to feel the spirit and the cleansing powers of the Atoning sacrifice of Jesus and the example that he left for us to follow its hard to follow, but really its the way that we think and the natural man makes it hard to do the will of the Father, I felt blinded before my mission and now I see the truth and it is Glorious! 

   Hey!?!? I thought its Jack's birthday, Crystal is robbing the birthday presents from Jack at least give Jack a chance to drive the car so, he can have fun! And buy him a big cake with a chocolate fountain at least! 

 I hope Brandon can find his way back to the light and truly have a recieve his answer that God does exist and reigns in his fullness and is waiting and watching over him, maybe the way to get him to participate in family prayer or family home evening is just turning off the power on Sunday to not have any temptations and also on Monday in the night so that he can be part of the family and with the obedience of this commandment he will see the blessings.

 I sent a bad picture of the Zone I have another picture its a little better, but we will see! I was trying to get into position... The water mess always happens when there is a lot of rain and the streets are flooding and some how the water enters into the house!! 
  

My shirts are doing good theres just a little bit of stitching problem with 2 of my shirts, but its not a big problem. My pants are great and are a little big on me now lol! One of my pants has bleach spots around the ankles, but its okay. Now, the socks.... one sock died like a few months ago and the others are good, and the rest pretty much have like one or to holes where my toes are and the heel of the sock have holes some bigger than others, but other than that its going good!a

  Spider-man!

 We found a cool town

 We stayed too long and I felt true happiness!

55th Email Home July 6, 2015

Wow! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun! Its so cool to see that the family is working together and having such a fun time together! The pictures are so great! As I saw the picture of the fireworks I was like,"WHAT!" and then I realized that the 4th of July just past, I thought that there would be a ton of fireworks here, but nothing. So I forgot about the 4th of July and I am grateful that you could take some pictures! 

  I am glad that you guys can stay cold, we have an AC, but it doesnt work. =/ The only best friend we have at night is our fans that run all night at maxium speed. Its not good to do that, but hey, I am dying of heat, well not really I just sweat a lot. Lol! Also, we dont have a pest control, we have to go to the store and buy bug killer that cost like 50 pesos here, I know that doesnt sound like a lot, but when you are living on a tight buget its hard to buy and really theres not too, much in the can to spray the whole house, so we just learn to be one with the insects and hope that they dont crawl into your mouth or nose! Lol! 

  I love going to the temple so much, here in Tapachula I think we can go, if we invite recent converts to do baptisms, but still its hard, because we like 6 hours from the Temple, but I have my whole life to go with my family and so its okay.

There are more people that are wanting to be baptized, there is Paoki, Diego, Sandra, Fernando and Carlos. Everyone of these people want to come closer to the Lord, Brother Paoki, is trying his best to live the Gospel, he is participating in activites and go to church every week and will be baptized on the 25th of this month! Brother Diego, is soo interested in the Gospel and the family history work, we were in a family history class so that everyone can learn about this important work and we watched a couple of videos and one of them was showing two men sitting together and they were talking about so what did you die from and it turns out that the both of them died in WW2 I think and so they were waiting for about 80 years and a man (or heavenly messager) was congratulating one of the men that was waiting saying," One of your family members was baptized into the church!" and then the man walked away, then waiting about 60 years later the man that was congratulated was told that he was baptized into the church so that he can progress, then turned to the man he was sitting next to and was like," Good luck!" and left. Then the camera focused on the man that was sitting alone and a message saying," Who, will help him?" "How long will he be waiting?" and I felt the spirit, but most of all Diego was so excited to help his family members recieve these ordinances! Sister Sandra, we invited her to baptism and responded so fast saying," YES!". Brother Fernando, has desires to come to church, by risking his freedom to come to church he lives far from the church like in Guatemala, but he doesnt have his papers, but he made in to church! Brother Carlos, I dont know him yet, because we went on divisions and so, I didnt hav have the pleasure to say,HI! , but tomorrow I will! 

 Well, I think I am about out of time so I just want to say, I love you allllll!!!! FAMILY, Friends, neighbors, and MOLLY!     

It rained again and it was cold!

 I was scared!

  Me and my friend and a random cat...

My Friend!

  Watery Problem!

 I was foolin around and my companion took a photo!

 Zone Pic!

 Pizza with Elder Valdes( we were on divisions)

54th Email Home June 29, 2015

 The days here in Tapachula were very wet and cold, but these past few weeks there hasnt been any rain! The temperature has been like 100 degrees or 95 and I like it, because in white and I want to be more tan, but the time I am spending in the sun isnt doing anything I feel like maybe I have changed a bit, but not too much... In this beautiful day we have rain, but its not such a good thing here, because the streets are filled with water and its pretty much a river.. Theres not much time to take a shower during the day and our shirts are soaking with sweat and yeah its gross, but we press on! After a time we forget about our needs and we get to work!

  Sorry Mom, but I burned one of my shirts.. Its tradition when you complete 1 year! =P 

 my shirt burning.

  I love this work as I continue to memorize scriptures and listen to Mormon Tabernacle Choir I feel the spirit and strength to press on and to give my all, my body is tired, but my soul is begging for the spiritual nourishment that it needs and this gives me the energy to do more. The investigators are all beloved sons and daughters of God and at times when they dont want to listen I try my best not to talk about these experiences, because it brings me to talking badly about someone that doesnt know the Gospel yet and they are not prepared and that its a very important to love all that we meet.

  The investigators that we have, have desires to be baptized, but the rules of getting baptized is going to church and listen to the lessons. The investigatores are so interested in knowing more, they have questions and then we have the pleasure to answer them and I really like answering their questions, so they dont have these problems of getting baptized. There is a part of the Preach My Gospel that explains that everyone has a "Iceberg" meaning that they have problems or questions about the church, but they dont want to talk about it and our job is to find this "Iceberg" to help them see clearly so that they dont have this thought about the church or rules and they can have this peace and happiness in their lives. I lovvvve you all sooooo much!

  ...more of my shirt burning.

 Empty!

53rd Email Home June 22, 2015

 Hola TODOS! I hope everything is going good with the fam. and that they are happier than ever! In these days I have been feeling this weird energy and I don't know what it is, but I love it! I have the energy to talk to more people and to actually be more open with people, its quite awesome. Me and my companion are learning from each other and with this we have some baptisms that might be playing out in about a month or so, we have Karla ( which she is about 12 years old) Diego (about 23 year old) and Nelleli ( she is about 20 yrs.). Its such a blessing to have so many people accept baptism and we will be trying to help them read, pray, and GO TO CHURCH! Lol! 

  The goal that I have set for now and forever is to memorize a scripture everyday to I can have a clearer mind set of what I can share with others and to also help me more with this language, I don't speak terribly,but there's always room for improvement and I will be making these changes for the building up of Zion. I am also trying to learn another language, but I wont tell what it is, until I come back!!

  How is everyone doing? Whats new? ¿Tienen alguna pregunta?   

  I didnt know until today that my companion has 22 months in the mission and he doesnt want anyone to know, because they would be constantly reminding him, so from now on I will try not to say how many months or days I have, so that no one will say,"Oh, you are almost dead!" Thats why I will be focusing everything on this great work that I have been sent out here to do and I am excited!!! 

  Getting ready to leave for a conference with the President of the Mission! 

I was feeling strong for a moment.Lol!

I want BBQ SO BAD!!!! Its probably, because I have eaten almost nothing today, but its okay, we are going to eat! I gtg LOVE YOU MUM!

52nd Email Home June 15, 2015

Thanks for the story it was so coool! It reminds me of the investigators that dont know too much about the church and they go away, because they are affraid of maybe friends, family or people in general would think of them and so they dont progress, but its so cool to here about stories that people want to do good all their lives, so they make sacrifices in their lives and those people turn out, become great missionaries, their testimony drives them to do a lot of things until they are back in their house at the end of the night exhausted and this is a missionary that doesnt have energry to do anything once he enters his house only sleep, lol!

 My new companion Elder Montes is from Tijuan and about 2 months before this area he was in Mexico City for about a year and then he had changes and was sent here, but I dont know why. He is a dedicated missionary he loves to teach and to help others find their way and I am learning from him to never run out of energy and it is coming along!

  The time I have spent here in my new area is some thing different and its not how much longer we need to walk, but the fact that there are tons of people here that are willing to listen and right now we have a baptism that is coming up on the july 11th and I know its far away, but I know that she will be prepared to get baptized in this day! The Ward is big we have about 148 members assist the church this past Sunday and I am so happy that there are so many members that are still with the church and the church has people to teach each class, because normally the missionaries need to teach classes or plan for the Ward, but here the members are very good!    

A big beetle

Me eating the beetle 

Me crying, because I dont like it!

 My other companion Elder Vales!

 The Clogger! (The meat is just pure steak! MMMM and it was about 1 pound 70 pesos! and they have even bigger hamburgers!)

La Salle( my old area)

 Our friend that was in our laundry bucket

  

 My journey to Tapachula!

Metapa another area of ours

A weird fruit, that tastes so good...!

51st Email Home June 8, 2015

Well first off I am sorry for your loss of the email, but the new one is way better! HAPPPY BIRTHDAY MUM! I am so glad that you guys could have a Fiesta with a whole bunch of people, I guess the house is big enough to hold the Ward, which is cool!

 I just wanted to mention that I had emergency transfers again! Now I am in Tapachula the hottest place in the mission almost... This is my first day and my companion and I ( I still dont know the name of my companion...) are going to work hard and sweat a lot this week and I hope we can have a few hundred baptisms this week to show.
 Well I have pictures of my other comapanion Elder Vales and other things, but I forgot my camera in the house!!!!! my bad, I am sorry that I didnt have time to write, but I will next week !!!! LOVE YOU ALLL !

50th Email Home June 1, 2015

First off, Why couldnt you guys wait just a year longer to go to Izzys? and secondly how is everyone doing?? I didnt have a problem at all opening the pictures, I could clearly see the hamburger and the beach and the wedding and graduation, I was at first a little jealous of the food, but then I saw the wedding pictures and how the family is so close together, as I saw Brayden again I was like," Is that him?!" and it was awesome to see him get married in the temple and have some one that loves him for who he is, he is a true friend and the coolest dude out their! Lol! Its so awesome that Tanner could graduate and have all the family their!  

  The first time that I was district leader I had no idea what I was doing and my numbers werent the best, but now with my new companion Elder Vales, we have had a lot of sucess this first week and he is a convert for like 3 years and came here on a mission! Its so amazing how people do that they are converted and hear about a mission and want to serve, like my companion, his parents arent members and I doubt that his brothers and sisters arent either, but he remains strong and he knows why he is out here, he has a true testimony a knowing of the living God who loves us and knows whats best for us. My companion is from Cuerna-vaca, Moleros and even though I havent heard of this area I know that they are great people! Lol! He has about 8 months right now or atleast close. 

 The family that we are teaching love the church, love the missionaries, love the Lord, but I think that one of the sisters dont want to give up coffee and she went to the doctors office like 4 days ago and wasnt feeling good and the doctor said, that she needs to stop drinking coffee, eating chiles, and stop eating fatty foods with grease and as she was saying this she wanted a blessing of health so we gave her a blessing and she was still feeling bad, but the next day she had a smile on her face and she had her energy again, I just hope we can get her away from coffee and drink some wholesome Chocolate Milk! MMMM. This Tuesday we are going to invite them again to baptism and help them stay on the right path. 

  Our area is hugeish we have Lomas del Oriente, Los Pájaros, la Azteca, and a area of just pure apartments, theres like 100 buildings there and not many people, but its okay, we will find them! I forgot to take pictures again, but I will take more this week! I swear! ( but I dont say bad words!) =P LOVE YOU ALL WITH MY HEART,MIGHT,MIND, AND STRENGTH! 

49th Email Home May 25, 2015

    HEY! These past days have been super fast honestly, its like I just met my new companion 2 days ago and now hes going to a different area! Comitan, I heard that its cold and better there, but hey I am not complaining about the heat, even though I would like it to be a little more colder, but I happy!! = P My new companion that I dont know yet, we will have a new experience and have sucess. We have a family that will all get baptized, they tell us saying,"I going to get baptized, but with my family" and so I need to work extra hard to get them all baptized or for them to feel the spirit and convert to the truth and we will have 4 baptisms!  This area hasnt had a baptism in like 1 year and 6 months or something like that and we are going to break that streak!  Faith, love, and power of the Holy ghost will help these people come unto the truth, the family is soo nice they always offer to buy us things like food and they want to always help the missionaries to feel comfortable and happy, they are practically members, they only need to be baptized! 

  I am so happy to be serving here in the Salles, oh and the bishop told me to give a talk and normally when I am preparing a talk like when I was when I was at home I took like a month to write a talk and it was like 8 minutes and so so, but know I can give a talk for like 15 minutes and prepare a talk in like 10 to 20 minutes and I wasnt shaky like I normally am and this was my second talk in the mission! The bishopric dont let us talk much, to help us prepare to talk in front of more people, but hey, its okay. I want to be a great teach of the Gospel once I return and I still have time to do that! How is the family is everyone happy and close? What have you guys been doing. anything New??? Love you all!!  until next week!  

 Zone leaders with other district leader and his companion

 My companion wanted to try on a dress.... 

 Camotes is a candy that is expensive and some what good and comes in different flavors like pineapple, chocolate, orange, lime. MMMM

48th Email Home May 18, 2015

Thanks mom for the wonderful bear picture! I havent seen a real bear in ages! I just wanted to add that I changed areas on Wednesday, it was emergency transfers, but honestly all I did was move up a hill from my old area! My new companion is Elder. Giles from American Fork, Utah! His family lived in Oregon for a long time and for about 2 years, have been living in Utah! I know we are farther away from his family, but, Hey Cool! Our area has like a million hills that are steep and the days are a lot colder, when it rains, its a good thing that it has started to rain! We have an family that we teach and they are practically members, the mother is always asking us,"Are you guys hungry?" and just barely we just got out of eating with her, we had hamburgers and they were soooooooo good! The funny part is she said," Its missing more ingredients" Im like what! How can you possibly make it any flavorful? I looking forward to that day! Oh, and I again I am district leader! I will do my best to help my district to feel full of energy to help others come unto Christ, I didnt have much time to write today, because the plans fell through so I will write more the next monday! LOVVVEEE YOU ALLL!

  ME! With a hat thats not mine... 

Chocolate frappe( that a member made) it has oreos, hersheys syrup, sugar, some type of thick cream, and a lot of ice and blend that up into a beautiful chocolate frappe

Avengers 2 is already out here illegally! woot! All the movies are cheap here!

47th Email Home May 11, 2015

HEY! I still want more time to talk on Skype! LOL! The time is like nothing, its kind of annoying I want more time to hear from my family and friends, but I know, this time isnt for me its for the Lord, I think thats why the mission is so fast, so the missionaries dont feel like they were gone for 100 years, lol! Honestly I want to help all those that dont know about the Gospel, but we know that not all accept, its the hard part of the mission, we teach someone and they say," I dont have time" or " Im catholic"; I could say," Im Mormon", but that wont change anything, the invitation we give to the people that are not acceptive, is do you believe in God? and pretty much all the time they say,"Yes." then, we get all happy and say," When can we come by to teach you and your family about Jesus Christ, then? and the suprising part is people are more acceptive to the messages and this will help us find the,"Chosen ones" to help them get baptized and enter in the Glory of God. 

   A quote from Elder. Holland," I am convienced, that Salvation is not easy..." When I think,"why arent our investigators progressing?" the talk of Elder. Holland, makes me think, I need to work harder, if Jesus gave all he had, I can do the same, me and my companion, will give all we have for the Lord and for the Salvation and our brothers and sisters, here in Chiapas!!!  "I will go and I will do the things the Lord commands!" This is my mini letter and I hope to write more the next time! LOVE YOU ALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =D

46th Email Home May 4, 2015

HIIIIII!!!
We are going to talk on saturday the 7th I think.

*Tamera just found a condo to rent in st George. She is so happy. She moves in two weeks. They already have her the key. 
Thats sooo awesome! I think I want to go to St. George, but I dont know.

*will it be on Thursday?

yeah its the 9th at 4 a clock???

*I guess Brayden is moving to Washington after he gets married

Thats so hard, I want to have my best buddy near by, but I dont want to move over there, because hes there... I have a problem. lol

*I'm so excited!!! How long do you get to talk to us?

4 my time I didnt know if we were ahead or you were on time,but yeah we only have 40 mins, but our district leader said that, we have 1 hour so I dont know.

*When I remember not to worry and allow heavenly father to bless us in his time it all works out.

Your faith is so strong, I am grateful, that you can feel these blessings, that rain down every day! Love you Mom!°

*I try to be strong. Sometimes I forgot that heavenly father knows what's best for me and my family.

He knows the beginning to the end. I need to trust him more.
We are human. We have difficulties, we continue through the day strong, but then someone or thing happens and our faith is weakened, thats why we strengthen it everyday.

*I try to always pause a moment and thank heavenly father whenever I notice that he had just answered a prayer or sent me or a family member a blessing I am grateful for what has happened,

I just think, what would have happened if everything worked out all the time, I feel like we wouldnt have learned anything. I got to meet new people, like my best friend Brayden and Heather, and all that were friends to me at school.

*I'm really looking forward to seeing you and talking to you on Saturday!!! I'm grateful they allow the missionaries to do this. I'm so proud of your work and your faith. You will be so blessed as you do your best to choose the right. I love you do much. Not because I think your perfect but because you keep trying to do what's right and you have an honest heart and of course because you are my son. Love, Mom XOXOXOXO

 Lol. Mom dont make me cry right now wait until saturday. ; p

*Ok, fine. Save your tears for Saturday
 Thanks mom.

 I dont have much to share this week, but all I have to say is that I know that as I continue here in the mission I am learning, very interesting things about the church and my faith is growing a lot stronger, the questions that are some times harder to answer are becoming clear, its soo awesome! Every time I just reading the Book of Mormon and the same things I keep passing was some thing very important or faith building, the scripture study is some thing very important, there are so many things we can find to help our families, neighbors, friends, enemies(Which we are not supposed to have). My testimony of these things is that I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book given to us to learn and to obtain eternal life and happiness and also that prayers always work if your not recieving an answer from a question or a problem have patience and continually pray and read the scriptures. Sincerly Elder Rowland. LOVE YOU ALLL!!!!! Well, Mom I gtg love you a ton!