Farewell to 2009

Dear Family,

I know you want an update, but last week is no longer in my memory, so I will do my best. Monday evening I went on an exchange with Elder Stocks. I went to Union and Elder Corona came and worked with Elder Redston in Spartanburg. We both had good days. I was able to interview Trumain Morman for baptism, and as of Sunday he is now a Mormon. :) All day Tuesday I was in Union. We had a very successful day. We found six new investigators and two of them were really cool. I'm glad we were able to find some people because the previous week they had only found one new investigator all week. Elder Corona and Elder Redston had a great day as well. They were working Woodruff (the town on the farthest tip of our area). They found five new investigators. They were able to see the Stewarts and they had a great lesson with them. Elder Redston and I went by to see them last night and Brother Stewart was sleeping, but we talked to his wife and daughter. They are such a humble family. Brother Stewart was asleep because he had been in pain all day (he's disabled).

Wednesday morning was an unplanned, combined (with Greenville West Zone) Zone Development meeting. The assistants called the day before and told us that we were going to have the meeting and that President and the assistants were going to be attending. Elder Redston and I threw together a training on the preparation it takes in order to find people to teach. I already gave you an update on Dawn Tucker; we had a great lesson about the spirit world. Unfortunately, she did not come to church this week. We are going to continue to work with her, but it may be time to use some tough love. Tracy and her children are doing great. They have a baptismal date of January the 9th.

Well I think I'm done. I'm fighting a cold. I'm going to take a nap today...the first one in a couple of months. :) Keep the faith, follow the spirit.

Love,
Elder Cowan

Week of Travel (No P-day)

Dear Family,

Hello! You were right mother. We changed our preparation day to Friday so we don't waste two days. I don't have time to write much, but this week flew by. Wednesday I was in Columbia, Thursday in Woodruff, Friday in Simpsonville, Saturday in Woodruff and Pacolet, Sunday church and then we went to Greenville and Greer. We are really trying to not only have success in our respective area, but for the entire zone to have success! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Adam (23), Christmas Eve(24), and I can't wait to talk to you on Christmas! I will be calling around 5:30 South Carolina time. I can't remember how many hours behind you are. 3? 2? I need to send my weekly email to the assistants to keep them updated on the zone! I love you!

Love,
Elder Cowan

PS I just realized I will be at my 10th month mark on Christmas! AHHHH! It is going by too quickly!!!!

Trevor at Zone Conference at Ft. Jackson

Blessings from Listening to the Spirit

Dear Family,

Wow. I can't believe how fast time goes by! I'm already half way through my first transfer in Spartanburg! There is always so much to do and no time to do it! To start off, I want to thank you for including me in your 12 days of Christmas. It has been quite fun for the first two days. I don't have too much time to write because I have to do some paper work on the computer for our meeting with the Stake President this week. I will only have time for the highlights. The biggest thing--India Johnson was baptized! I had the opportunity to confirm her a member of the church yesterday during sacrament meeting. I am so excited for India. It is great to see the fire burning in recent converts. I hope I never become complacent with my testimony, but that I will always have a desire to spread the gospel.

This week Elder Redston and I planned to knock an apartment complex, and while we were walking and talking, we both stopped and the same time--Elder Redston was in the middle of his sentence--we looked at the apartment building at the top of the hill. We both shared with one another that we thought we should go up there, so we did. And.....we met Monica. We had such a great lesson with her. The spirit was so strong and she cried from the time we shared the first vision up until we left. What is even more exciting is that she is the same age as India and they are exactly alike. India is coming with us to teach Monica on Tuesday night. Monica has been reading the Book of Mormon and she has accepted a baptismal date of January 2nd. I am excited to continue to work with her.

Elder Redston and I continue to work with Dawn Tucker. Her countenance has completely changed from the first day we met her. Dawn is no longer depressed and she is always so excited to see us. Dawn has not come to church. Elder Redston and I have planned a "do or drop lesson." I know the spirit will testify to her of the importance of church, and it will be so strong she will not be able to deny it!

Another cool story. Thursday night as we arose from our knees to begin our planning for the following day, Elder Redston pointed at the map and said, "We need to go to this street." Elder Redston was pointing at Quinn Street in Pacolet. He then went on to say, we need to go there between these two times. So we planned it in, and when we got to Quinn Street we met a mother who had been praying for some help to get back into church. She has been struggling with depression and I am so thankful that Elder Redston was in tune with the spirit so that we could be an instrument in Heavenly Fathers hands by being an answer to this sweet sister's prayers. More to come on that story this next week. :) 

One last story. Last night Elder Redston and I had been out contacting and we ran out of plans. I turned on my GPS and I looked at the area. I felt prompted to knock a street, and I told Elder Redston. He said he had already been there with Elder Bowles, but he said we could go try it again. As we pulled onto Grant Cir, he told me there were only four houses on it, but I kept on driving. At the end of the street, it turned into a townhouse community. Elder Redston had never seen it before. We parked the car and we knocked on Lamont Glen's door. We taught Lamont about the Restoration and he told us that he has been searching for a church. He has committed to come to church this week and we are seeing him again on Tuesday. :) I feel so blessed to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. It is one of the greatest blessings. I know I could not do this work on my own. I also feel so blessed to have been given the responsibility to offer others the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Priesthood is real, always live worthy to use it at a moment's notice.

Love,

Elder Cowan

Happy Birthday Justin!

Dear Family,

I can not think of anything that I need for Christmas. I hope I don't get the package too soon, I got a package from Becca this past week, and in big letters is reads "Don't open until Christmas" and it's been a struggle to not open it.  :)  I decided to put it under my bed in order to remove the temptation from my sight.

To start off, I first need to wish Happy Birthday to Justin. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Next, an update on the zone. For the first week of December Spartenburg East Zone (nicknamed Shemlon Zone) had two baptisms. This next week, our zone is looking at 2 or 3 baptisms. The goal for the month is 16 baptisms. It's quite the hefty goal, but with the Lord's help, it will be accomplished.

On Tuesday Elder Redston and I met with Aleishe (Recent convert) and her aunt Tracy (came to church last week) this was the first time we taught her. Tracy and her daughter Cheyanne loved church. Tracy had already read the introduction and the first chapter of the Book of Mormon. We taught about the Restoration, and we invited her to be baptized on the 26th of December (Happy Quanza) :D Tracy is very excited. Tracy also told us that she has two sons, Jesse (14), and Jakob (12). I am very excited to continue to teach this family. They were not able to come to church because they were sick. Tracy has read through 1 Nephi 8.

On Wednesday we went on a mini exchange with the biking elders in Spartenburg. Elder Jones came with me to work my area while Elder Redston worked with Elder Otoole. The very first door we knocked on, we met Dawn Tucker. Dawn let us right in and we talked with her and she was very depressed. Dawn did not understand why we went through hard times in our lives. She also had two children die before they were baptized, so she has gone through her life hearing that her children are in hell. We read a part of Moroni 8 with her and it was amazing to see the spirit testify to her of the truthfulness of what we were teaching, and the burden and remorse of the death of her children was lifted. By the time we left she was smiling and happy. I am so blessed to see the gospel bless the lives of those we teach. We taught her again this past week. We taught her the plan of salvation. I love the plan of salvation, but I always get in trouble. I talk too much. Our lessons are supposed to be 45 minutes long, but when I taught the plan of salvation it took us two hours. :S

Last week we met a man named Russ. He met with the missionaries awhile ago, and he said that he has never felt the spirit stronger than when he read the Book of Mormon. His wife is very anti. Russ invited us to come to a Christian luncheon. The luncheon was at the library on Thursday. That was quite the experience. We met a bunch of pastors and a lot of old men.  :)  I felt a little out of place but the food was good, and we met a man named Dennis who may be interested in the gospel.

Friday was zone interviews. It was interesting to have a longer interview with President. We talked about the strengths and weaknesses of the zone. It was very weird to have president apologize for the zone we have. We have quite a few missionaries who are near the end of their missions and are loosing, or have lost their desire to work. I hope my desire never leaves. The assistants asked us to train for a total of 30 minutes, but when we started the training, the assistants told us that we had an hour. The training lasted for an hour and ten minutes.  :) 

India is doing great. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ, the law of the fast and we told her about testimony meeting. India also attended the Christmas devotional. She is excited for her baptism which is happening this Saturday. Life is busy. Life is great. I hope and pray all is well with you! I'm glad to hear the nativities are all out. I think of Elder Uchtdorf's talk. We all must recognize Christ as the Messiah and we must also recognize this time of year is to celebrate his birth. I love ya'll and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Cowan