Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Crazy Computer
Dear Family,
God has a sense of humor. I got emails this week thanking me for sending lengthy emails, and not just one or two lines, so this week God plays a little joke on me and makes it so I can't send anything. I've been working for the past hour trying to get an email out. Everything is great here. We are working with a man named John Perry. He is really cool. He came with us to the baptism which took place in the other Spartanburg ward. He really enjoyed it. Tracy, Cheyanne, and Jakob are getting baptized this Saturday. Tracy's husband is now interested in the gospel and his sister, Dona. Keep them in your prayers. I love you all, and I hope this sends!
Love,
Elder Cowan
God has a sense of humor. I got emails this week thanking me for sending lengthy emails, and not just one or two lines, so this week God plays a little joke on me and makes it so I can't send anything. I've been working for the past hour trying to get an email out. Everything is great here. We are working with a man named John Perry. He is really cool. He came with us to the baptism which took place in the other Spartanburg ward. He really enjoyed it. Tracy, Cheyanne, and Jakob are getting baptized this Saturday. Tracy's husband is now interested in the gospel and his sister, Dona. Keep them in your prayers. I love you all, and I hope this sends!
Love,
Elder Cowan
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Elect Find Us
Dear Family,
Life is an adventure. Monday (11th) we went to Woodruff to see the families we have been working with. Unfortunately our dinner appointment lasted longer than expected, and we were only able to see the Stewarts. I am not a fan of member meals. Most of the time they are in a different area than we are working, so they take away our miles, and it takes up our time. I know there are some benefits, but more and more, I am beginning to feel that they are a burden. Oh well! I am working on a new dinner schedule, instead of a calendar being passed around Relief Society (and consequently, only the active members feed us). I hope and pray the ward will call a ward missionary, whose responsibility will be to individually call less-active, and part members, and invite them to feed the full time missionaries. Then we will be entering the homes of families who need an extra boost, and it also presents a teaching opportunity for the missionaries. Anyways, enough about food--on to more important things.
After working Monday night, I received a phone call from Elder Bowles (the new assistant to the president) and he asked me to give a training at zone conference the following day. So I was trying to prepare for that, and on Monday nights, we also have a conference call with the District Leaders of our zone. It was crazy trying to do both things at once. :)
Zone Conference was really good. President McConkie presented a mission wide plan of action for the 2010 year. I am excited to see all of the things that will occur. We will be focusing on one chapter of PMG every month. It will be great to learn more from PMG. Tuesday night Elder Douglas and I met James, we sat down, and Elder Douglas was so excited that he had memorized the fist vision so he sat down and began to share it. :) Normally we wait until the end to share it, but you know me, I go with the flow. We had a great lesson with him, we unfortunately have not been able to see him again because he has been sick.
Later that evening, we were walking along a dark street, and we were jumped by five guys, they slapped Elder Douglas....ok not really, none of that happened, but I'm just checking to see if you're paying attention. Anyways we were walking down the street, and a lady stopped and asked if we needed help, we told we were fine, and then I began to contact her. She recognized who we were, because she had been taught by missionaries before. I love it when the elect find us, instead of us trying to find the elect. We are going to be seeing Renee later this week.
Wednesday we went to Cowpens, not much to report. Thursday Morning, Elder Redston was really sick, every 15-20 minutes he would have to use the bathroom. Elder Redston stayed in and I went out with his companion, Elder Hightower, during the day to visit his appointments, and then in the evening, I picked up Elder Douglas for our appointments. While I was with Elder Hightower, we came across some apartments, and I asked him which apartment building we should go to. Elder Hightower felt we should go to building 126. As we were walking up, I had my doubts, because there were no cars in front but we knocked on the door and we met Sheree and Antionette. We taught them a powerful first lesson, and right when I was going to commit them to be baptized, Sheree's mother came inside. I was worried what her mother would feel about us being there, but I invited them anyways. To my shock Sheree's mother made the comment, "Girl, you need to be baptized." The mother was actually a support not a hindrance. Before we left I asked if they knew of anyone else who needed to hear our message, and Antionette asked us to go visit her mother, who lives in the same apartment complex. We went and visited her, and she invited us in. She was so excited to see us. She said we had been an answer to her prayers. Sonya, Sheree and Antionette are all preparing for baptism on the 13th of February! :D
I don't mean to be a sour sport, but The Fortner family that Elder Douglas and I found in Woodruff, dropped us. Well, actually, the father dropped us. The family is still great and really cool, but the husband/father is lame and told us to never visit his family again. I feel sorry for him, because he will be accountable for damning his family's progress in the Gospel.
One last good story. Last night Elder Douglas and I were in one part of town and we thought Elder Redston and Elder Hightower would be able to pick us up at the end of the evening, but their investigator called and asked them to come and see them, so we were 5 miles away from our house, and we were supposed to be home in 30 minutes. We were walking really fast and as we were walking on the major road, a smaller street connects, and right were the street connects, I almost ran into man. I started talking to him, and before I could explain where we were from, he said "your Mormon" and we told him we were, and he told us he attended the church with his girlfriend and they both enjoyed it, but then things went down and he had to go to prison. Well he's out now, and he wants to start attending the church again. Once again Heavenly Father brought His children into our path. It's great. I love you all. Hope everything is going well.
Elder Cowan
Life is an adventure. Monday (11th) we went to Woodruff to see the families we have been working with. Unfortunately our dinner appointment lasted longer than expected, and we were only able to see the Stewarts. I am not a fan of member meals. Most of the time they are in a different area than we are working, so they take away our miles, and it takes up our time. I know there are some benefits, but more and more, I am beginning to feel that they are a burden. Oh well! I am working on a new dinner schedule, instead of a calendar being passed around Relief Society (and consequently, only the active members feed us). I hope and pray the ward will call a ward missionary, whose responsibility will be to individually call less-active, and part members, and invite them to feed the full time missionaries. Then we will be entering the homes of families who need an extra boost, and it also presents a teaching opportunity for the missionaries. Anyways, enough about food--on to more important things.
After working Monday night, I received a phone call from Elder Bowles (the new assistant to the president) and he asked me to give a training at zone conference the following day. So I was trying to prepare for that, and on Monday nights, we also have a conference call with the District Leaders of our zone. It was crazy trying to do both things at once. :)
Zone Conference was really good. President McConkie presented a mission wide plan of action for the 2010 year. I am excited to see all of the things that will occur. We will be focusing on one chapter of PMG every month. It will be great to learn more from PMG. Tuesday night Elder Douglas and I met James, we sat down, and Elder Douglas was so excited that he had memorized the fist vision so he sat down and began to share it. :) Normally we wait until the end to share it, but you know me, I go with the flow. We had a great lesson with him, we unfortunately have not been able to see him again because he has been sick.
Later that evening, we were walking along a dark street, and we were jumped by five guys, they slapped Elder Douglas....ok not really, none of that happened, but I'm just checking to see if you're paying attention. Anyways we were walking down the street, and a lady stopped and asked if we needed help, we told we were fine, and then I began to contact her. She recognized who we were, because she had been taught by missionaries before. I love it when the elect find us, instead of us trying to find the elect. We are going to be seeing Renee later this week.
Wednesday we went to Cowpens, not much to report. Thursday Morning, Elder Redston was really sick, every 15-20 minutes he would have to use the bathroom. Elder Redston stayed in and I went out with his companion, Elder Hightower, during the day to visit his appointments, and then in the evening, I picked up Elder Douglas for our appointments. While I was with Elder Hightower, we came across some apartments, and I asked him which apartment building we should go to. Elder Hightower felt we should go to building 126. As we were walking up, I had my doubts, because there were no cars in front but we knocked on the door and we met Sheree and Antionette. We taught them a powerful first lesson, and right when I was going to commit them to be baptized, Sheree's mother came inside. I was worried what her mother would feel about us being there, but I invited them anyways. To my shock Sheree's mother made the comment, "Girl, you need to be baptized." The mother was actually a support not a hindrance. Before we left I asked if they knew of anyone else who needed to hear our message, and Antionette asked us to go visit her mother, who lives in the same apartment complex. We went and visited her, and she invited us in. She was so excited to see us. She said we had been an answer to her prayers. Sonya, Sheree and Antionette are all preparing for baptism on the 13th of February! :D
I don't mean to be a sour sport, but The Fortner family that Elder Douglas and I found in Woodruff, dropped us. Well, actually, the father dropped us. The family is still great and really cool, but the husband/father is lame and told us to never visit his family again. I feel sorry for him, because he will be accountable for damning his family's progress in the Gospel.
One last good story. Last night Elder Douglas and I were in one part of town and we thought Elder Redston and Elder Hightower would be able to pick us up at the end of the evening, but their investigator called and asked them to come and see them, so we were 5 miles away from our house, and we were supposed to be home in 30 minutes. We were walking really fast and as we were walking on the major road, a smaller street connects, and right were the street connects, I almost ran into man. I started talking to him, and before I could explain where we were from, he said "your Mormon" and we told him we were, and he told us he attended the church with his girlfriend and they both enjoyed it, but then things went down and he had to go to prison. Well he's out now, and he wants to start attending the church again. Once again Heavenly Father brought His children into our path. It's great. I love you all. Hope everything is going well.
Elder Cowan
Monday, January 11, 2010
First Week with Trainee
Dear Family, Life sure is crazy trying to take care of a zone and my new missionary. You asked me how I do it, and honestly, I have no idea. I know I am supposed to get to bed my 10:30 every night, but with planning with my "newborn son" it takes a little longer. Then I have the opportunity to talk to two of the four district leaders in our zone to give them encouragement and have them stand accountable for the activities they performed throughout the day. Anyways, after all that, and trying to grab some dinner and my nightly prayer, I have no time and I get to bed much later than 10:30. My son's name is Elder Douglas. He is from Cotton Wood Heights Utah. I think he lives close to LaDonne, I'm not sure he lives at 7155S Treasure Ridge Circle (1495 East) I have no idea. I told him I don't know where my family lives, but I know how to get there. :) I do it all by sight. Mother, I'm glad you were able to talk to Edna. You should continue to keep her excited about going to the temple in May. Edna was my first "actual" baptism, actually my only baptism, all the rest I have either had a member or my companion baptize. Elder Bowles became an assistant to the President at transfers and Elder Taylor became a Zone Leader in the Columbia West Zone. It's so exciting to see what they will accomplish. I learned so much from serving with both of them. On to the news of the week. Wednesday morning we drove our car to Roebuck and then Brother Jordan gave us a ride to transfers. When we got back to Roebuck, we decided to leave the luggage at Brother Jordan's house and work Woodruff. We had a great time. Elder Douglas and I found two families. One, the Bennett's, is a mother (Kortorsha) and her Son (Coran). They are really cool and we will be seeing them again on Saturday. We also found the Fortner family. Sister Fortner has four children and we had a great lesson with them. We are seeing them later today. We also found a couple, the Davis', and they are looking for a church. They have visited temple square and loved it. We are seeing the Davis' on Wednesday, well Elder Douglas is, I am going on an exchange to Greer. It is way hectic trying to teach Elder Douglas and going on exchanges with the district leaders in our zone. What an exciting time. Oh, I didn't finish my story from the first day. After going to Woodruff, on our way back to Roebuck we got a flat tire, and at the same time, Elder Seamons (one of our district leaders) called us and needed us to do a baptismal interview that evening. So we put on the donut tire and, in order to not kill the spare tire, we drove to Greenville going 25 mph. After doing the baptismal interview, it was too late to go home, so on their first day on the mission, Elder Douglas and Elder Hightower slept on couches in the Greer apartment. They did not even have their luggage, it was still at Brother Jordan's house. :) What a crazy introduction to mission life. Well I have to send a ton of emails to the assistants so I must go. I love you! Elder Cowan
Monday, January 4, 2010
Happy New Year!
Dear Family,
Happy New Year! My session is going to end in 15 minutes because I was doing weekly reports for the Assistants. This week has flown by. I can not even begin to understand where the time seems to go, but where ever it's going, I want it to come back. I would love some oranges. It you are offering me any type of food, I am going to accept. I forgot to tell you but Elder Redston and I have been sacrificing our dinners. We skip it because it's the most productive time to be out among the people because families are together eating dinner. We just finished another transfer. It seems like I just got here! We received the phone call from the assistants to give us the information for our zone, and every companionship is being affected in the zone except Elder Redston and me. There are going to be three white washes in our zone. It's going to be very exciting. Lots of new faces in the zone. I was really excited to know that I am going to be in an area longer than one transfer. That phone call came on Saturday. This morning we received a phone call from President. Elder Redston and I are going to be training new missionaries AND be Zone Leaders!!!!!!!! The amount of weight on my shoulders becomes a little heavier every transfer. I'm a little stressed because it's going to be difficult trying to train a missionary and take care of 16 other missionaries at the same time. Elder Redston and I decided that it is in preparation of marriage. We each are bringing a new child in the world who is going to need a ton of attention, but we can't forget about our other children either. :) My time is up. I love you. I feel very selfish to use my time to write about me and not my investigators.
Love,
Elder Cowan
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