SDSU YSA (last one): I can run but I can't hide

One word..... Weird.... That is all I have to say about your little visitors on Sunday! I'm sure they might have told you but let me tell you my side of the story... 

So, This last Weekend was a giant regional YSA conference being held in San Diego so when I heard that Ryan and Shaina were coming for their honeymoon here the thought did cross my mind that they might try to see me at church but I disregarded it and actually even forgot that they would be here because I didn't even know where I would be going to church until the week before.  So I thought I was safe in the back of my mind and didn't give it a second thought.

Fast forward to this past Sunday.  We go to the church building which is outside of our stake (again, one more reason, I thought I was safe from intruder attacks)  for church we had scheduled to meet with one of our members just before Sacrament begins.  We designate another one of our members to save us a seat and go to teach her.  We have a great lesson and we walk into the chapel and our seats were stolen! The chapel was filling quickly, luckily there were overflow seats set up clear to the back of the gym.  Around the back we see our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Konold.  So we are sitting there talking about the choir who was going to be doing a musical program for us rather than having speakers talk to us.  The choir was great! There were 2 or 3 former California San Diego Missionaries in the group from Arizona so it was funny to see them.  The only thing was that we had seen them earlier that morning because they performed for the Recruits at the MCRD. 

So we were talking about that with our Ward Mission Leader when all of a sudden I get that feeling like someone is staring at me.  You know that odd sixth sense that people have when you look over at the person in the car next to you when you are stopped at a stop light and you both look at each other? That is what I felt.  So I look back and I saw Ryan walking about 7 rows back behind all the chairs. We made eye contact and he just gave a goofy smile and waved.  I was in Shock! I asked him later what my face looked like and he said that I was so confused! Apparently I mouthed, "Oh my gosh".  haha

So I snap around again so I am facing forward, grab Elder New and say, "My brother is here..."  he looked at me and said, "You're kidding me right? Which one?" so I told him. 

So Sacrament meeting eventually starts and it was actually really cool! my favorite part was the administering of the Sacrament.  Because there were so many people there (the YSAs filled up nearly all the chairs) they had about 24 men to pass and six pairs of priests on their own separate tables to break more bread than could be fit on just the one table.  There were Sacrament Tables lined along the front of the chapel and when all the Deacons stood to pass the Sacrament I felt the spirit confirm to me the power of the priesthood.  It made me think of all the deacons that stand all over the world to administer something so important.  I feel like when I was a deacon I didn't realized the importance of what I was doing and how many young men throughout the world there were who were able to be a part of that service. 

Anyway, that was a little off of the subject of my story. So, the Choir sings great, and the closing prayer is said and Elder New starts counting down. 10, 9 8, 7... Confused I asked him why he was counting down.  He said, "Don't even Elder!  You know why!" and he kept counting. 

Then I saw Ryan and Shaina coming up to us.  I gave Ryan a hug and was a little unsure if I could hug Shaina but she made me do it and told me that she is my sister now so it was fine! haha still weird! In fact, our Ward Mission Leader saw me hugging a girl and not knowing what was going on just turned back around! haha He figured she was a sister or something but I just thought it was funny that that was his reaction. I had no Idea what to even say or do! I just kinda sat there looking at the two of them and just said something that I honestly can't even remember what I said! haha But we took a quick picture and they left and the awkwardness was over... And that is my side of the story! It was definitely weird! haha

The Newlywed Surprise Attack

So yeah, My week was weird! Some lady today was dancing in the laundromat while singing, "Hashtag, Hashtag, HASHTAG, HASHTAG!..." over and over again.  I also found out today that I am being transferred tomorrow.  I don't know where to yet but It is going to be somewhere exciting I'm sure! I'll tell you all about my new area and companion next week! President Clayton is still here running the mission until the 28th which is when President Schmitt will take over as president after a brief 2 hour intro to the mission home and office.

Thank you for the Wedding photos! I really appreciated them! Both of them do look happy! :) I can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love,
Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: If I Never...

Mom,

     

If I never have to move Anna's stuff ever again I would be just fine. haha I thought a lot about Dad on Sunday.  Everyone kept asking us if we got to call home on father's day like we did on mother's day so we had to tell everyone that unfortunately we do not. It is so Crazy to me to think that the wedding is already here! Elder New and I were looking at the date this past Sunday and were both surprised that it was already half way through June! The days are going way too fast and I swear I was just at this same computer emailing home a few hours ago. haha It is pretty ridiculous being able to think about where I was 1 year ago and that it was back in Ramona.  It seems so recent and distant at the same time.  I often find myself forgetting entirely what it is like to not put on a shirt and tie on in the morning. I think I might have lost all ability to be able to sit in someone's home without bringing out the scriptures or a gospel topic of some kind! haha It makes me laugh whenever I think about how weird my life is compared to everyone else.  I love it.  

In fact, this was a few weeks ago, but we have a Recent Convert who has recently been taking us to Mcdonald's (this is how we roll in the poor singles wards!) each Monday.  I call it Member Missionary McDonald's Monday Mania, or MMMMM for short. haha So we meet up at the institute and McDonalds is literally a maximum of 50 yards from the door to the institute to the door of McDonald's. While walking over, we see two exchange students from China enrolled in the English program at SDSU, so we just start talking to them and invite them to mormon.org. They accepted and we both went on our way.  As we continued our trek to McDonald's, Alisha (our Recent Convert) says, "you guys love what you do." Our reply was, "yep!" haha and that was the end of that conversation 

     

This past week on Sunday we were passing out the programs to everyone as we were preparing for Sacrament meeting and another of our Recent Converts named AnaKaren told us that she needed to talk to us after sacrament meeting.  I wasn't too sure what to think of it but was curious to find out what she felt was so important to tell us that she needed to do it in private.  So sacrament meeting came and went and we began talking to her again and she told us that she had decided to serve a mission!! I was so excited! She was baptized in late November so if she leaves quickly after her year mark and goes through the temple I will be able to see one of my Recent Converts go through the temple!

A few weeks ago We had our final training with President Clayton and we were all able to sign A tablecloth that will be at future Reunions and get-togethers.  So I sent a picture of that! you can see my signature in the picture at the bottom of the picture directly beneath the Yellow marker. We were also able to take one last final picture as a zone with President and Sister Clayton.  And be sure to hold on for this next one because we went a little crazy and rebellious! Sister Clayton REQUIRED that President Clayton allow her to hug each of the Elders just once before everyone had to leave back to their assigned areas.  So each of us were able to have one last hug before they left.  

Signing President and Sister Clayton's Tablecloth

Zone with President and Sister Clayton

Anyway, that is our week! things are rolling along World Cup and all! The Gundred's really set me up for temptation around this time of year! While I am missing out on the World Cup and Ryan's wedding, I still can't tell you enough how much I love being out here! I'm excited to see the pictures next week!

Love,
Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: The Real Deal

Isn't the weather hear amazing?! :) No joke, if it gets to the mid 80s then people start complaining that it is too hot.  It is pretty fun! I walk out from the apartment at 6:30 am and it is always about 60 degrees and never gets about 80 in the day.  It is pretty great... :) I'm glad my shorts were able to be of use to someone!

So this week was the first week of the month, which means that we have a TON of meetings. Thursday the 5th was one of the craziest days ever! We started out our day by compiling all of the Key indicators (goals and actual) for the missionaries in the San Diego Area for a meeting later that day. Then we ran to a Zone Conference where 3 zones of missionaries (about 50 missionaries) gathered together to receive instruction from President and Sister Clayton, The Assistants to the President, and President Morgan which normally takes 6 hours... but this time it took 7 hours.

SO! we ran from there, picked up a member to come with us to teach Angel and Omar, our two brothers that are investigating, but we were SUPER late to that so we had to make that meeting short. And we were still late to the next appointment with one of our members for dinner. We had some INCREDIBLE authentic Mexican food (always amazing), unfortunately because we were so late we couldn't take our member home that was with us for our first appointment! So we kidnapped him for dinner... :) he didn't mind...

So we tried to be super quick there but we were still super late for our next appointment with an investigator so we had to keep him for that lesson as well! haha luckily he didn't have to end up working that night after all because by the time we got out of our that meeting it was 8:10... and we were already 10 minutes late for our meeting with the Stake President and Mission President to report on the key indicators I was telling you about earlier...

So we weren't able to take him home then either! haha! Luckily he didn't mind and it reminded him a little of his mission so he thought it was fun.  We did eventually get him home though about 4 hours later than we had originally expected. He was a good sport though! 

Also, I'm not sure if I have mentioned this, but the Broadway musical "the Book of Mormon" was in San Diego for the past couple of weeks.  It is a satire about a missionary who is called to Africa. It doesn't accurately portray the beliefs of the church at all but the Church has taken the "high road" and responded well by using the publicity in a positive way. In the hope that the play would bring additional questions about our beliefs, we had 5 sets of missionaries in various parts of downtown San Diego from noon - 5:30.  So part of our week was spent in downtown San Diego talking to random strangers! haha There were plenty of people who were about their own business rushing to or from their jobs, homeless, and others who were generally not all that interested. However, I found that often the people who were a part of the play itself as part of the orchestra or actors themselves were the ones with the most questions! It was really cool actually! Also it was really fun to stand right in front of the theater where the musical would be playing and have people come up to my companion and I and just stare for a few moments before with confidence saying, "Nope, They're the real deal!" So we had some interesting experiences down there but it was fun!

On a more spiritual note, on Monday we had a Less-Active that we had been working with make some great progress! We brought a member of our ward who is preparing to leave on a mission come with us and she worked miracles! She did so well and was able to testify of the blessings of reading the scriptures each day! we challenged our less-active to read each day, thinking she would read maybe a page a day. No, that didn't happen. By the time we came back on Friday she had read up to 1 Nephi 18! She loved reading and said she felt happy as she read the Book of Mormon.  It was so awesome to see how our Member's testimony was able to help her out so much more than we ever could have! 

That is basically how my week was! very busy! but busy is good! especially as a missionary! :) I can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love,

Elder Ethan John Rowbury

SDSU YSA: Teaching

-- Happy Birthday Allen! I'm sure he'll get plenty of hugs from his daughters but add one in there for me! 

This last week was really cool! We have had some amazing weather, our investigators are doing well, and our members are sharing the Gospel! It started out with an interesting lesson with an investigator named Matt.  He is a great kid who has been raised with a Christian background. However, our visits have been getting more and more... how do I explain it... Contentious?... I guess we can go with that for now.  He has had some questions about why the Book of Mormon was necessary, or why baptism was essential, and what role faith played in our salvation. We knew some of his concerns but Elder New and I were on Exchanges with some other Elders that day and he is definitely the more well versed in the scriptures out of the two of us. So I was left to resolve his concerns with another missionary who doesn't know he area and to be honest I was a little scared.  Matt knows the scriptures very well and I knew that he would want to use his knowledge to fight with us.  but we went in there planning to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  the first 30 minutes were great.  He agreed with everything we had to say about Faith and Repentance.  But once we got to Baptism things went wild again and we were both there using the knowledge we both had to resolve his concerns.  We emphasized the importance of the Book of Mormon and how it clarifies hings from the Bible.  Later we brought up John 3:5 where Christ teaches that we must be born again of water and of the spirit to enter into the kingdom of God and he asked, "is it really talking about baptism here?" Luckily the young Elder I was with remembered that the very question he was asking was clarified in the Book of Mormon in Alma 7:14! It was incredible to be able to be stuck in a place where we weren't quite sure what we needed to say and then have the Spirit help us remember something we used to help us learn an answer.  Eventually it came to the point where we had to end and we finished with Moroni's promise that if he were to honestly read the Book of Mormon and Ask God to know if it was true, then he would receive an answer that it was true and that what we taught him was true.  

This past Saturday night we got a call from the Sisters in our zone.  They told us that they had just met a guy named Chris who really wanted to be baptized and come to church! So we finished up what we were doing and headed on over. When we met him he tells us about how he had been taught by the missionaries in Escondido (just north of our mission boundaries)  and had to move down here for cheaper rent.  So we gave him our number, the address for our institute building where we have church and found him a ride so he could come to church the next day.  he liked it! it was awesome to see how he was so willing to come to church and have us teach him! it was a nice change of pace. :)

Yesterday we had President Clayton's final Leadership council.  It went just like normal without anything too special until the end when he, Sister Clayton, President Morgan (who is in the mission Presidency) all gave their final testimony as tradition gives for those who will be gone before the next months council.  The Spirit was so incredibly strong as he Testified, "I know the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. I know, I know, I know."  I have been so lucky to be able to be led by such a great example of a Righteous Priesthood Holder.  He won't be leaving until June 28th, 3 days after transfers. That way President Schmitt will have a full 5 weeks to get to know all 250 of us before the next transfer. President Clayton was telling us that they will only have about 2 hours with the new President to show him where the office and the mission home are and how to get there.  After that President Schmitt takes over. it is so crazy, but I am excited for it and to see what we will be able to learn from him.  I'm sure miracles will continue and increase as we move forward. I can't wait to hear from you next week! 

Love,

Elder Ethan John Rowbury