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