SDSU YSA: New Years

Yeah, so I hung up and then went over the people I talked to and realized I didn't talk to Jen. It made me sad. But it is all good.
  
Our Members took real good care of us on Christmas! I think we had like 3 or 4 people give us gifts throughout the last week.  It was really nice of them and made Christmas away from home a bit better. :)

I love the suggestions! it is funny how being a missionary somehow kills your driving abilities!  But the Lord looks out for us! haha This week has been full of fun experiences and interesting encounters... So we were able to add a ton of new investigators this last week! we were able to get in contact with this one dude for the first time in a month of trying him.  We had been striking out on finding him but luckily he lives with his Grandma and she was just the funniest lady.  She is seriously fits every stereotype of an awesome black ghetto grandma and is so stubborn it is hilarious!  She gave us a KFC coupon and everything! haha

As far as eating goes, we have been getting a lot of leftovers recently but usually we are able to get some groceries and we make our own food occasionally.  I actually make the bagel egg sandwich things quite often.  It is a lot like being back home and eating like a college student. haha.

Sorry this email is so short! But we didn't have much time this week.  Know that I love you and miss you!

Love,

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: CHRISTMAS TIME (not weather) IS HERE

I've got two packages but I haven't opened either of them yet... but I will in a little while.  But this Christmas is going to be really odd.  I was thinking about it earlier today and it doesn't really feel like Christmas yet with the weather being in the 70s and not being around family.  So I was thinking of calling somewhere around noon UT time on Christmas.  Just be available... or else i will have to call Ryan again! haha We went up to the mission office to get the mail today and normally we pick up our mail and the Spanish zone's mail but there were so many packages we could barely fit ours into our car.  We had to use every inch of that Corolla to get Christmas back to the missionaries.

So, First a silly story that Dad and the brothers will like.  So you remember Manti Te'o.... yeah the Mormon football player from Notre Dame who plays for the Chargers now. So... He is in our ward :) and we were texting him the other day about Church! We will have to see if we can get a lesson with him sometime at his place or something! haha

Speaking of which, we gave talks on Sunday.  Mine was on Why I believe the "Church is True". It was actually a lot of fun because I just talked about experiences I have had in my life that have helped me come to know that the "Church is True". This next Sunday is the Christmas program in our ward and I am singing a solo... ugh... solos... It is going to be "he sent his son" from the children's hymnbook so it is all good because that is one of my favorites!

The students are all heading home for Winter Break but luckily a few have stayed for the time being.  We had an awesome day a few days ago where we sat down and had lessons with 3 of our most "solid" investigators. First we met with Allie (the girl we saw at the temple a few weeks ago) on a moments notice.  She broke the bad news that she wasn't able to get into all the classes she needed for school so she is going back to Arizona for a few months this week.  But we had an amazing miracle with her boyfriend Juan.  So we met with Allie, in the afternoon and had a lesson with the 2 of them later in the day.  We talked about the Law of tithing.  They had read a story online (never a good thing...) about this guy who didn't pay his tithing to pay some medical bills and because of that wasn't able to see his son be married in the temple.  However, by he end of the lesson and explaining everything they understood why everything happened and the steps the man should have taken to be able to pay a full tithing, his bills, and then see his son be married in the temple.  Allie and Juan always ask a lot of questions but we love it because they are always on point and are learning from the answers rather than letting it distract them.  Them reading that story actually led to them learning about tithing in more depth than they originally would have if they hadn't.  So it was a blessing in disguise!

Next we had a lesson with Mileena and talked more about preparing her for baptism.  She is being baptized in Colorado so we just have to make sure all goes smoothly up there and she is good to go.  She is way cool. And she is from Carmichael area! But right after our lesson with her, we got a text from Juan saying, "I think the LSD (he meant LDS, but it was a good laugh in the serious matter) Church is for me!!" We were freaking out so we said, "Awesome! When do you want to be baptized?" haha basically he said he wanted to think about a date a little more but we set a date with him yesterday for February 1st.

So yeah, that was my week... It was pretty fun! we are having a ton of fun doing the Lord's work! I got a card from Allen and Kymbra and wanted to say thank you for that! I love you all and hope you feel the special Spirit of Christmas his time of year!

Love,

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: I Wore My Sweater... 3 TIMES!

I thought of something I might need if it isn't too late... A plan of Salvation teaching aid... some cool things I have seen are like little wood circles or even just laminated pieces of paper it all helps. I tried to make one but about half way through the process it went missing... it made me sad... haha

Oh, and also in a few days you should get a package from me with two pairs of pants in it. So here's the deal the black ones were hemmed WAY too tight from the beginning and need to be put to a size 34 waist. You might notice they look really good. Well, I haven't worn them my whole mission... So I figured I could be like Cuzco in Emperor's New Groove and give myself a birthday present!  The Grey ones I could barely wear so I wore them occasionally but if they could be put at a 34 waist as well that would be just swell! :)

So this week I ate the largest burrito I have ever seen! No Joke! This burrito stretched from one corner of the food trey to the other! like TV measuring style! I about cried when I saw it. It was beautiful... Here are some pictures!!! :)

 

Let me tell you! I love working in this area! This last week in church we had a member bring someone to church who is so hungry to learn about the gospel! She had met him the previous day and asked him if he waned to come and he was way excited to be there.  We met with him after church and started teaching him the basics.  later that day, we are watching the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional and we get a call from another one of our members asking us where we are and if we have a Book of Mormon for his friend that wanted one right then. So we old him where we were and he came to us and we gave him a Book of Mormon.  We go his information and challenged him to start reading it.  He lives in a different mission so we are about to send his info off to the other missionaries when we get a text from our member telling us that his friend wants the missionaries to come over as soon as possible.  

The work is moving along and it is so awesome to be able to have a small role in the Hastening of His Work... Even if it is a freezing 50 degrees here. :) I have gotten used to the San Diego Weather so literally when it gets below like 60 degrees everyone bundles up.  I have used my sweater a few times this week as it has been raining.   But overall, it hasn't been too bad of weather. :)  I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: Thanksgiving Break

So... you know how many students stay around for Thanksgiving break?.... not very many... haha But we were still pretty busy for how few people we had to work with.  It felt like everyone was dead or something.  Speaking of which, it is good to know that mom is a good enough shot with a rifle to survive a zombie apocalypse! I loved the pictures! I about died seeing Ryan and Leah going gangster Santa this year.  And it is good to see that Elder Gundred is being taken care of and having success.  I miss him a lot but we do email every week, so we stay in touch.  

     

I got the tree! Elder Reece and I are super stoked to put it up in the apartment! I feel like I am missing out on a joke though because all of Leah, Mason, and Owen's ornaments said "I smell" on them... Kevin.... haha  So I was wondering what was up with that?  

     

I got my new companion last week. His name is Elder Josh Reece and he is from Payson Utah.  He is a super hard worker which is awesome! He spent 6 months in the Imperial Valley (the desert) and a little over a month in Julian. Yeah! Right next to Ramona! so it has been really fun trying to get used to being Zone Leaders because well, I've only been doing it for 6 weeks and this is his first transfer... So we are rocking it doing as best as we can for our inexperience.  We are working hard though! :) 

     

We have seen some awesome miracles the past week! First off, Ana Karen got baptized! She is so awesome! She is the one who grew up going to the Spanish ward around here and came back with her friends to the YSA  Ward.  Her parents only speak Spanish so we had the entire program in Spanish.  Elder Nichols even baptized her in Spanish! My favorite part (other than the ordinance itself, of course) was when we had two Spanish missionaries teach the Restoration while they were getting dried off.  We had a lot of people there that didn't speak Spanish so what they did was teach the Restoration in English and the other one translated.  It was super cool because the Spirit was so strong whether we understood everything or not.  

     

Next, we had like 20 minutes before we had to be in for the night and it was Thanksgiving weekend so no one was out by SDSU.  But we decided to walk around anyway and see who we could find.  So we talked to a few people and they are all moderately interested. After we gave away our last Book of Mormon we started walking back to our car, so we could head home.  But on our way to our car we see a guy munching down on some McDonald's.  So we start talking and he is just full of questions! He said that he had prayed earlier that week to be able to come closer to God and we told him, "Well, we are your guys!"  We had a great conversation and taught about the restoration and he loved it.

     

It is super fun to see all the crazy miracles happening in our day!  Elder Reece and I have had some really great experiences already.  We were able to be a part of an amazing miracle which strengthened my testimony in the priesthood this past week where Elder Reece healed a woman who had severe back pain. As she stood up straight and began to walk to her house she said, "The pain is gone! I feel much better now! Thank you!"  While we weren't able to find her LA grandson, I know that we were still needed there.

     

I love you all so much and can't wait to hear about the Christmas Craziness!

Love,

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: Thanksgiving Plans

Well, I have bad news for you.  We only get to Skype if we are a missionary from outside the US.  But hey, I will still get to call!

We just found out who is staying and who is going this morning and I will be staying here in SDSU for Christmas! I am so glad I am staying! I am loving this ward and having a ton of fun! However, we found out that Elder Nichols is being transferred.  So we will only spend 1 transfer together.  I have loved all of my companions, but I might have to say that Elder Nichols has been my favorite... I will really miss him.  But, the Lord has need of him elsewhere and I am sure that my next companion will be great as well.

Elders Nichols and Rowbury in front of San Diego Temple

With us being in a YSA ward on campus at SDSU we actually struggled to find a Dinner for Thanksgiving because all the students go home for the Holidays.  Luckily our President Clayton asked if everyone in our zone had a dinner and he could help us find one which entailed sending an email specifically for us the YSA missionaries to the Stake President which got forwarded to our Bishopric which resulted in an almost offended call from our amazing 1st counselor demanding that we come over for Thanksgiving. Our ward takes care of us... :) 

     

We have a Baptism coming up on Saturday! WOOOT! Her name is AnaKaren and she grew up going to church with her dad in the Spanish branch but stopped going as a teenager.  EVERYONE thought she was already baptized but she confessed that she never was a few months ago. The reason everyone thought she was baptized was because she knows the doctrine better than most everyone else! It is a little ridiculous trying to think of things to teach her. Her biggest fear was asking her family even though she knew they would be supportive but after she asked she told us, "Now that I have told my family, nothing is going to stop me from being baptized."  She is so awesome! We got a curve ball thrown at us though on Sunday when she told us she wanted the entire service to be done in Spanish!... But all will be just fine.

     

But yeah, that is basically all for me... I am excited to get that Christmas tree and be able to set it up with my new companion! I love you SO much! 

Love,

     Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: My Biggest Problem

Thank you for the Tie (you knew I needed an orange tie didn't you!) Subway gift card!!! We sorely needed it! Since we cover the wholestake for YSA work we sometimes get stuck far from our apartment during lunch and dinner without an appointment so we have to eat out which has been destroying our budget. haha but hey! If that is my biggest problem then life must be going well!

Thanksgiving as a missionary is really weird from what I hear.  We don't want to pester people while they are spending time with their family so basically we can only go over if they invite us or we have an appointment.  But luckily we should be good for dinner a few times over... :)

No letter from Ryan... but at least I heard about it from you! That is so awesome that they were able to do all of that! I am kinda jealous to be honest.  Trek was always one of my favorite youth activities.

Tell Leah that she isn't allowed to be 11 yet! You know what is weird to think about? The fact that she will be in Young Woman's by the time I come home! CRAZY!

This week was pretty crazy.  We had MTEs and I went to SD 10th ward up in Clairemont and had a ton of fun with Elder Byers and Elder Rutland who are both pretty new in the mission.  It was a ton of fun! They hadn't added an investigator in that ward for a little over 2 months so it was our plan to add someone that day.  Within 20 minutes of starting the exchange we tried a referral who they had been trying for several weeks and when we got to her house she was practically waiting on her porch for us to come by and teach her!  It was way cool to see that miracle so quickly after setting that goal.

This last Friday we had a Baptism!!! YAAAAaaaAAYY! His Name is Abraham.  I came in about half way through as he was taking the lessons and he had already gained the desire to be baptized so it was pretty easy.  All we had to do was set up a date and teach him the rest of the commandments.  It was way funny though because as we were discussing with him who he wanted to baptize him, he said he wanted a member named Jacob to do it because "He looks like Jesus".   Jacob hasn't cut his hair since his mission and has been growing a beard for a year and a half now.  haha but he is a way cool guy and it is always better if a member of the ward does the ordinance that way they have that bond with someone in the ward rather than a missionary that will leave a few months afterward. Whatever the reason we were happy that Jacob would do it! haha you will see in the pictures that Abraham is a pretty strong dude so when we handed him his suit we were hoping that it would fit... but we didn't have anything that would so he had to leave the suit part way unzipped in fear that he would rip it if he moved. Overall it was a pretty comical baptism, but the Spirit was still felt and the Covenant still made.

Elder Rowbury, Jacob, Abraham, Elder Nichols

That is pretty much my week in summary.  I thought of another song to put on that CD of choir music.  It is called "I dream a world" (not from Les Mis).  Not too sure who composed it (mama J should know) but we sang it in Carnagie Hall.  I'm still having a blast! Trying to be the best missionary I can be! I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: Not Much Happening

Honestly... I don't know what to write... haha So, I hit my 9 month mark in the mission field today. Weeeeeieieieieiirddd... I swear I just got done training a few weeks ago.  I thought of a few things
for Christmas! A Subway gift card, I don't know the deal with my insoles but they are starting to fall apart... so... if I could somehow get some new ones... haha Oh! and some more pictures! Some specific ones would be when Ryan and I did a handstand in front of the Jefferson Memorial in DC, or Some with Cameron and Connor, or of NY, a picture of Hazel, OH! and the picture of when mama J went on splash mountain with us! feel free to go on Facebook and get some pictures from there.  I can just tape them in the book I already have.  It doesn't matter if they are off the computer I just need a few updated/classic pictures.  I would love it so much if I could get some of those.

So, This week we had a ton of meetings so we didn't get much time to teach. But when we did teach, we saw miracles. Basically, nothing too crazy or exciting happened.  We have been preparing for a baptism on Friday.  It is turning into a bit of a secret baptism though because he doesn't like getting attention.  It isn't that he is shy because he is the first one to go up to someone and introduce himself.
I guess he just doesn't like to be in the spotlight.  So there are only going to be like 6 people there... haha

Tomorrow is MTEs again! woot! Except this time I am going and "coaching".  It will be a different experience but I'm sure we will see tons of miracles as is the expectation with MTEs.  I don't know,
things have been pretty regular this week.  But yeah. Keep up the good teaching in your classes! Tell everyone there hi for me! I love you a ton!

Love,
Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: What A Week!

What a week! But seriously... It was crazy!... AWESOME! So picture it. It is a regular Thursday as Elder Rowbury and Elder Nichols prepare to go to an appointment with their super awesomely prepared investigator Abraham.  We had planned to watch the Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration with him because he wanted to know more about him.  So we pick up the 2 members we were going to take with us and when we get there he said he doesn't want to watch the video but he could watch it on his own and that he wanted to just have a normal lesson.  All we had left that was required to teach him before he was good to go for baptism were the Commandments (Tithing, Sabbath Day, Law of Chastity, and Word of Wisdom).  So we went ahead and taught ALL 4 of them in one lesson! He is SO solid! He was a little surprised when he found out that he couldn't drink coffee anymore but he said that he would do it for the true church of God.  We also set him with a Baptismal Date for November 14th! He is doing Great!  Then the next day we Taught Ana Karen.  She is the girl that we went to the Mormon Battalion with!  It was a surprise trip because the missionary that I replaced came back to visit and invited her to go to the Mormon Battalion with him and his family (his mom is Bari Trost).  Let me tell you about her because she is awesome! She had been going to church her whole life and EVERYONE thought she was already a member until a few weeks ago when she revealed that she wasn't! So we have been teaching her and she is Incredible! She knows everything practically better than we do! The only hold up was that she was afraid to tell her family that she wanted to be baptized.  So we followed up with her about it and she told us that when she told them they were surprised but really happy for her! She set a Baptismal Date for November 30th! 

     

Then Sunday came... It was even better! So it is fast and testimony meeting and one of our members brought his friend to church for the first time who had been reading the Book of Mormon. He got up and bore his testimony of the Savior and how he was looking for a church!  After church we had a meeting with him and added him as an investigator.  Oh! and he also set a Baptismal Date! Freaking crazy right! But it doesn't end there! After we had a premature Thanksgiving themed Break the Fast (one of my favorite parts of being in YSA work) we met up with Allie and her boyfriend Juan who one day walked into the institute and asked if they could have a bible.  The institute teacher promptly pointed them to us! So we met with them after break the fast and gave them their bibles and had a quick lesson on the Restoration.  They asked some amazing questions and overall it was a good lesson.  But their story continues!... So, today we went to the temple (my first time with the new video and it was AMAZING!) and as we were walking out we see Allie looking up at the temple in front of the doors!  What a miracle it was to see her there! We set an appointment with her and her boyfriend at 7pm today.  She is searching for truth and what a miracle it was to see her there as we walked out of the temple.

     

Also I found out that one of the members in the YSA ward found the blog. So Lea Brown, this is officially your shout-out! haha

     

So yeah... that was my crazy week! and we have another crazy week planned! I love you SO much and can't wait to tell you about the miracles this week will bring! Peace be the Journey Mahn!

Love,

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: Halloween

So... If you can't tell, I am Kohor from the Testaments movie and Elder Nichols is a Pharisee... We aren't dorks I swear!

SDSU YSA: The Work Was Still Amazing!

Mom,

     

My area literally has every store you could think of.  Because we work in the YSA Ward, we cover the whole stake and that includes downtown San Diego, the SDSU campus and everything in between.  We get fed really well for a YSA ward... Except for this week... It's midterms so everyone is freaking out. haha but it is ok! I think it takes like 3 days for packages to get to the Mission Office.  So if your were to send a package I would send it on Thursday or Friday.  We don't get mail at our apartment. All mail needs to go through the office at 7404 Armstrong Pl. San Diego CA 92111.  Quick question though, who all do you send my emails to?

     

This week has been weird.  We had probably a dozen appointments fall through last minute which doesn't normally happen.  It was pretty crazy.  But, oddly enough the Work was still amazing! We had two of our Investigators be confirmed this last Sunday (it was Stake Conference last week).  One of them Dari (short for Darian) asked me to confirm her!  It was my first time confirming someone but it was amazing to feel the guidance of the Spirit in that moment.  Also, later that day, we had a few things to do in this big apartment complex which is notorious for being a party complex. Luckily we had Alisha, our Recent Convert there to help us find our way.  It was early in the afternoon and none of the people we were hoping to see were home so we were on our way down to the front to have a quick lesson with Alisha before we left when we got a little bit lost.  So we went out this side door and this guy wearing a 49ers jersey comes walking down the street. So being missionaries we asked how his day was and he said, "Great! the 49ers won!" So we talked about that briefly and then he said he was from Folsom 1st ward and that his mom had been bugging him to find the missionaries to see where he could go to church down here.  He hadn't been active recently but was searching for a way back when we found him.  It is so crazy how often this stuff happens to us! Things seem to not work out and then we are led to someone who needs us. 

There is so much happening right now and it is incredible to be a part of the hastening of the Lord's work.  I love you and can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love,

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

Elder Rowbury and Elder Nichols

SDSU YSA: Where in the world is Elder Ethan Rowbury?

Dear Mother,

There goes Sister Sepos stealing the thunder again! haha It is true! I am in San Diego Zone/Stake now in the YSA 2nd Ward! It is so fun! We cover the whole Stake so we have a few of the most interesting portions in the mission all in one.  We cover the gay capital of the San Diego county in Hillcrest, San Diego State University Campus (where we do most of our work), the ghetto gang run area of Logan Heights (we don't go there after dark...), Downtown San Diego,  Point Loma, and City Heights.  It is literally the opposite of Ramona.

My new Companion is Elder Chris Nichols.  To summarize Elder Nichols he is a Soul food eatin', Kitten hatin', Fast talkin', music lovin' Elder from Centerville UT with the attitude of a black woman.  We have so much fun together! He has been out for about 14 Months and we are killing it in the YSA 2nd ward!  We have 3 or 4 Investigators who are going to be getting baptized in the next month! It is way fun to be working with people my age 100% of the time.  I have noticed that Ramona made me speak slower though... so I am trying to readjust to city life.  

     

Being a Zone Leader just means we work with the Stake on how we can improve the work there.  Usually the missionary "zones" correspond with the Stakes (except for Ramona).  We also do training with the missionaries in our zone.  So right now Elder Nichols and I are over the English Missionaries in the San Diego Zone/Stake.  It is really fun! I am still new to it but hopefully I can adapt quickly.

     

This week has been crazy! We are always super busy (which I love) trying to fit in as much time seeing people. We got a text on Saturday night from one of the members saying that she got the stuff to make Chicken and waffles... If there are two things in this world that Elder Nichols loves they are Gumbo (tonight's dinner) and Chicken and Waffles (Sunday's Dinner).  So I thought I would take a picture of him and his waffles! We also went to my first ever YSA FHE activity! We did Pumpkin Carving!!! we had the random inspiration of doing an UP! house for our pumpkin.  It was a ton of fun.

Elder Nichols and his "Chicken n' Waffles"

Pumpkin Carving: The UP! House

     

But anyway that was our week! Just killin' it in the heart of the city of San Diego!

Love, 

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: Transferred 10/16/13

Called to serve as the Zone Leader for the SDSU YSA Zone.

Ramona: I'm Moving!

It's official. I am leaving Ramona tomorrow!  6 of the 9 members of my district are being transferred so
tomorrow should be exciting.  I do miss the seasons... a little bit... but not too much. It is pretty nice to have
80 degree weather still.

    

But at least I was able to get some sweet pictures in preparation! These first two are of me with 30+ goats in a small pen.  We had to herd them into a trailer and take them to their new home along with about 8 sheep. Gaining those cowboy points have finally added up! I took some fun pictures to commemorate my time here in Ramona.  I will send them in a little bit, but on with my email.

    

This past week has been FULL of miracles! The Ramona Ward has really made a turn around recently.  Probably the most exciting thing is that we are beginning to focus on a new family of 3 and they are making amazing
progress.  It is interesting because their story begins in Ramona Oaks like 8 months ago.  One day (8 months ago), brand new Elder Rowbury was looking through the Ramona Oaks Area book and he sees the Demmi family.  I asked my trainer, "Who are these people?"  He replied, "Not too sure.  I think they moved..." So that was the end of that, but they kept coming to mind. We were eventually asked by the bishop in the Ramona Oaks ward to see if they were at the old address we had.  We found an empty home.  A few weeks later, I was Emergency transferred over to the Ramona ward and 3 days later the bishop found where their address and new phone number.  They had moved to the Ramona ward! We have been trying to get in touch with the wife with minimal success but we kept finding Bobby her husband.  Eventually Bobby invited us in and talked with us about his beliefs and his desire to get to church.  We talked with him and he was really really happy to hear that we could help him.  He came to church last week and loved it! He said, "Well, I'll be here next week! Will I see you boys Thursday night?"  I responded, "Heck Yeah!" haha He and his family have been such a great miracle this past week or so and they keep coming!

As far as things I might need.... hmmm... I'm not too sure! A SD card reader to plug into computers would be nice. I've just been using other missionaries.  I'm doing pretty good on ties.  A good slim tie would be sweet.... uhhhmmm... a few more pictures of friends and family?.... ummm.... I have spent like 20 minutes on this paragraph... haha OH I need some replacement blades for my electric razor.  And Blue Zebra pens (metal
barrel with blue finger grip probably 0.7 thickness).  I still need to send you my two pairs of pants that need to be re hemmed. The Grey ones are manageable but the black ones were hopeless from the beginning.  They just
need to be made to 34" waists. I will send those sometime... maybe...

I love you and I can't wait to hear from you next week!
   

Love
Elder Ethan John Rowbury

One Last Jelly Fish Dance...Good Bye Ramona!

Ramona: Still killing it in Ramona

This week has been a blast! Still killing it in Ramona.  Not much has changed but there have been some pretty funny times along the way!

I guess I'll go in chronological order for this week's story time! haha So, First off we ran into Bobby again! He is that guy we added a few weeks ago and was super open with us and wanted to talk to us more.  We were able to set up a weekly time when we can stop by and help him in his understanding of the Savior.  He is super genuine and hopefully we will run into his wife one of these times... we are still looking for her. :)

Next we went and contacted a referral from the Spanish missionaries.  They weren't too sure how solid the contact was but figured it was worth a shot.  Anyway, we go and meet Cindy and she opens the door and right away tells us to sit down on the porch and talk to us.  She was definitely a little tipsy but she was super cool still.  She gave Elder Stowe a jacket (he didn't bring one) which was pretty awesome! In the end she ended up revealing that she had already been baptized Mormon a long time ago.  We weren't too sure whether to take her seriously but it was pretty convincing when she started talking about Relief Society.  It was pretty cool and hopefully we will see her again soon and sort out her story and help her come back to church!

    

We were watching conference with a active member family Sunday morning when the power went out! Luckily thanks to our nearby magic phone we were able to listen to it over the radio and we hooked it up to a speaker.  It was pretty sweet listening to conference over the radio.  My favorite talk was Randy D Funk's talk during Priesthood Session.  I loved it when he showed the sequence of "broken things" (ground wheat bread) which lead to the broken heart of a person worthily partaking of the sacrament.  I also loved how he said that Spiritual Strength is acquired through Humility, Obedience, and Following the Spirit.  I think there it was during the Saturday Afternoon session when someone said to pray for the missionaries and their investigators by name everyday.  It was really sweet when at the end of conference the member we were watching it with made us list our investigators so she could pray for them and she put the list on the door of her fridge. 

     

Finally, last night we were getting ready to head out again to work when we realized we couldn't open our door.  The door knob wouldn't open! Eventually, we were able to jimmy it open but when we went to the office to get it fixed they had already closed.  So for the night we needed a temporary fix to keep the door open but be able to close it using the dead bolt.  We frantically looked for tape but after some time the only thing we could find with any sticky properties were band-aids... So we fixed our door's boo boo with some band-aids from the first aid box! haha

Fixing the Door's Boo-Boo

  

Elder Stowe is probably the pickiest eater I have EVER met! He mentioned that his favorite food is pizza to one of our members and they ended up taking us out to dinner to get what ever kind of pizza we wanted.  So I took a picture of him with the best meal he had ever eaten... I shake my head but it made him so happy, haha!

Elder Stowe's Best Meal EVER Eaten!!! haha!

Anyway, that there has been my week of Ramona Missionary work.  I'm trying to get in anything that I may miss from Ramona before my imminent departure. In about a week.  We don't know "for sure" yet but it is pretty certain that I am going to be leaving this transfer which makes me sad but that is ok.  I am sure there are tons of cool members and investigators outside of Ramona but I am going to miss this place for sure! I love you all and can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

Ramona: Conference Coming

Mom,

Well transfers are coming up soon again. For the time being though I am still in Ramona.  It is nearly certain that I will be getting transferred in two weeks.  I will miss Ramona, but until then I will be working really hard here!

Speaking of which, I don't know what has happened but all of a sudden Ramona wanted to start getting us super busy, which for a missionary is a really good thing! We set another record for lessons last week with 27 which I haven't heard of in Ramona.  Our Bishop has recently jumped on board to get us some work.  We have been going around to a few members of the Ward with the Bishop and helping people feel the Spirit of Missionary Work and give them the tools they need to share the Gospel effectively.  It has been way fun!  You know how I like to always be busy, so the past few weeks have been great!

Miracle for the week time!!! So, we were in the middle of Weekly Planning (a 2-3 hour process dreaded by missionaries around the world) and we were talking about one of the people we had talked to in the store a several weeks prior.  He was really friendly and seemed like he really wanted to meet with us, however, when we called him a few weeks ago he couldn't meet because he was going into surgery the next morning so he needed to rest.  We ultimately decided to call him again to see how he was feeling.  When we did we had a great conversation with him where he told us he had been doing well and wanted to meet with us the next day! After that, we resumed our planning when we get another call from him just a few minutes after we had hung up.  We answered and he asked us if we had time to meet with him right then.  Excited to further procrastinate our planning we jumped on the opportunity.  We met with him and had a great lesson and felt the Spirit.  It was another one of those opportunities where we felt just the slightest prompting from the Spirit and saw the blessings from following that prompting.

This past week was seriously amazing.  It is amazing how much better the work goes with the support of the Ward.  I have come to really love the people in the Ramona Ward.  We were in a combined meeting with the Relief Society this past week and the subject was preparing the youth for missions, which has been a huge focus for me recently.  One of the mothers in the class who we have seen fairly regularly recently along with her family of teenagers said that her kids now think that the missionaries are cool and think a mission is something they can do.  First off, mission accomplished on tricking them to think we are cool and second it made me really happy to know that we were making an impact with the youth.

Elder Stowe and I are working a lot better together now.  This week is "Senior Week" in the training program, which is where the trainee takes over as if the trainer were a brand new missionary for the week. So I'm going to be having fun this week sitting back and watching.  Luckily, the area is on fire right now so we actually have a ton of stuff to do which helps.  He is opening up little by little and now that he has to step up he is making me proud.  haha

I'm loving it out here and can't wait to watch general conference!  Conference is always amazing as a missionary.  I love you all and can't wait to here from you next week!

Love,
Elder Ethan John Rowbury

Ramona: Hastening

Mom,

I did get the package from Nathan.  haha Nathan would forget it on the car! In fact, he probably was on his way to the Post office when he got distracted doing something else!

So, this week was pretty normal... went out... did Missionary Work...good stuff! haha just kidding! there is always something to talk about with missionary work.  We had another week with many lessons. However, while we have people to teach and to talk to, we are trying to find some new investigators.  I get the feeling we might need to drop a few of them soon just because they don't really want to DO much.  Don't get me wrong, I love being here and being with these people but our job as missionaries is to invite people to come unto Christ.  We have
invited them and they don't seem to want to come. A little discouraging but hey, there are still thousands of other people we can talk to and invite.  

This week we went to see one of our investigators named Matthew.  We have been teaching him for about a month now and he admits that he knows that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet but his hold up is that He doesn't like large groups of people so church is an issue.  We were over at his house
teaching him and he was telling us some of his concerns (mostly found through anti sites) and it was getting close to the time we needed to head home for the night when I felt prompted to bear testimony of the
Savior and of our calling as missionaries and His servants.  We had been struggling to help him feel the Spirit the whole lesson. It was a serious battle.  But, honestly, I bore the most powerful testimony I had ever given.  He was a little taken back for a moment. Then smiling he said, "Hallelujah."  We ended with a prayer and being thoroughly late for curfew I left feeling so good about how we worked so hard and eventually the revelation came and we were able to help resolve his concerns. The Spirit guides us to be instruments in the Lord's hands.

We also had a great meeting with our Bishop where we organized a time to go on splits with him and the Ward Mission Leader.  He asked us how many lessons we had been teaching a week and when we told him that we
were doing 20-26 lessons he was really impressed.  It helped him see that we were working hard and that the ward needed to step up their game to help us out and give us referrals.  Anyway, I'll stop before I get started on my member work rant.  haha

I am really loving this work.  We are truly seeing a hastening in the work and it is amazing to be a part of it.  I love you all and can't wait to hear from you again next week.

Love,
Elder Ethan John Rowbury

Ramona: Bipolar

You didn't mention the fact that BYU played Texas last week so I knew they won without knowing it was Texas. I had no idea they beat Texas until like 5 days later when we were at a member's home and they were talking about it. haha.

Alrighty, so I have no idea what is up with my ward right now... it is really bipolar. So like one week we will just struggle to find people at home and then another week EVERYONE will be home.  Luckily we were able to find tons of people at home this week and we set a new personal record for lessons! :) 26 lessons in one week! It helps though when your companion gets a 10 lesson day while I was on exchanges back in Ramona Oaks! It was way fun to see everyone again and the dessert contest was a blast.  One of my favorite desserts was a tortilla thing with like caramel and fudge in it.

This week's miracle though happened last night.  We went to a potential investigator's home for like the 12th time to try and catch Jen at home and ready for a lesson.  Normally she is at work or really busy because they have been in some hard financial times recently so we keep trying.  Over the past weeks we have met this guy named Bobby there and he has always been really nice and all but not too interested in lessons or anything.  Well last night we went over as usual around 8:15-ish after 2 people canceled on us.  So we walk up and we are greeted by Bobby again, but what was different is that he invited us to come in and sit down with him and chill for a bit.  We of course started directing the conversation towards God and what he believes and he just opened up to us.  It was awesome! We started teaching a little and bore testimony and it was just a really good conversation.  He was way nice and he was really thankful for our diligence to find them at home. :) It was the first time we had added someone to our teaching pool in like 4 weeks so it was really nice to get someone new.

We are doing really well in Ramona. I'm still livin' it out here getting those cowboy points! There haven't been too many Kodak moments recently so I don't even know if I have any new pictures, but I will get some soon! I think we are going back up to Julian soon and the Temple and Point Loma in the next 4 weeks so those are always good picture times.

Love,
Elder Ethan John Rowbury

Ramona Oaks: A Visit, Judging Desserts

This picture brought to us by Sister Sarah Sebos:

I just thought you might like to see your son judging a dessert contest. We recruited him back to Ramona Oaks ward just for tonight. He said it was like coming home, well almost! We love him!
-Sarah Sebos

Ramona: Nothing too crazy

This week has been good.  Nothing too crazy happened. The new District leader is in the Ramona Oaks ward so when we go on exchanges I will be going back to Ramona Oaks. haha I also have another missionary from my MTC district back in Ramona too named Elder Todd.

But really, this past week has been a bit of a struggle.  We have been trying to find new investigators but for whatever reason can't seem to do so.  Luckily, we had a freaking BOSS Stake Conference! It was all on missionary work and how the members can get more involved.  When the members get involved, everything starts clicking.  You find more prepared investigators who are more likely to be baptized.  Always remember (when you get to the field), Member work is where it's at.  Mitt Romney's son is in our stake presidency and he gave a really good talk about missionary work and inviting.  He brought up some of the youth from his ward and had them tell stories about them inviting their friends.  One of them had her non-member friend with her and the non-member shared her testimony! It was so awesome!... That is, what I heard of Stake Conference...

Sunday evening into Monday I found that I couldn't hear very well in my left ear.  Yep, another ear infection. Luckily I got a doctor who trusted me on this one and got me plenty of antibiotics.  I am already feeling much better so all is well.  Another one of those awesome missionary blessings is that we heal quickly. haha.  It did make me realize though that I don't think I have a card for our insurance... so I had to use the mission medical.  It would be nice to get that... haha

Oh and how is the CD going?... :) I thought of another good one! It is called "Beatti Quorum Via" (spelling may be off but it is a STAB arrangement again)

I love you!
Elder Ethan John Rowbury