Dear Family,
What an exciting week for all members of the Cowan Family! With those who were on the vacation, I'm glad to hear everyone had an enjoyable, safe time, minus your spill mom :) and for myself here in South Carolina, I had the privilege of seeing the Lord's hand in His work. On Wednesday, we had transfer meeting and my new companion is Elder Fitzgerald. I am so excited to continue to work with the driven missionary. Thursday we drove to Lake City to proselyte there. We had zone conference in Marion on Friday. Elder Fitzgerald and I drove down to Columbia for zone leader council on Saturday and had church on Sunday.
We have been traveling quite a bit this past week, but even with all the activities that we are required to accomplish with our callings, I enjoyed the wise words of mother reminding me to listen for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I wish I had time to tell you the wonderful experiences that we had this week because the Lord has truly blessed us. Because of transfers, I had to create a new sheet for accountability purposes and I only have 5 minutes left on the computer and I have not written President McConkie either. :) On Wednesday as we were driving down the street, I noticed some houses on our left and it was not part of our plans, but I told Elder Fitzgerald that I felt we should stop. We met Tanzania, who is looking for a church, and I told her the spirit told us to stop and she recognized that we are truly servants of the Lord. When we went to Lake City we met Annette. She is searching for truth and she accepted a baptismal date of the 17th of July. Yesterday we met Chrishelle who broke down into tears because of the trials that the Lord has placed in her path to humble her and allow her to listen to the restored gospel. Not only are we being blessed but the rest of the zone is as well. We are excited to continue to work in this calling we have received to be full time missionaries. I love each of you. Keep the commandments, they keep us free and we feel the Lord's love as we do!
Love,
Elder Cowan
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
I am getting a new companion!
Dear Family,
What an exciting week! Transfers are this Wednesday and I am getting a new companion. Elder Pack is leaving me and heading up to my part of the state. He's going to be a zone leader in Greenville! I am excited for him. I am also curious to see who my new companion will be. This week has flown by. We currently are not working with any progressing investigators, but we found quite a few new investigators on Saturday and Sunday. I am excited to be a part of their conversion process. I hope the Lord will bless us and give us the opportunity to see these, our brothers and sisters, progress in the gospel. We have two families: the Timmons family and the Anderson Family. I am out of time on the computer! I love each of you. I pray for you and I hope you enjoy your vacation!
Love,
Elder Cowan
What an exciting week! Transfers are this Wednesday and I am getting a new companion. Elder Pack is leaving me and heading up to my part of the state. He's going to be a zone leader in Greenville! I am excited for him. I am also curious to see who my new companion will be. This week has flown by. We currently are not working with any progressing investigators, but we found quite a few new investigators on Saturday and Sunday. I am excited to be a part of their conversion process. I hope the Lord will bless us and give us the opportunity to see these, our brothers and sisters, progress in the gospel. We have two families: the Timmons family and the Anderson Family. I am out of time on the computer! I love each of you. I pray for you and I hope you enjoy your vacation!
Love,
Elder Cowan
Monday, June 14, 2010
Adversity
Dear Family,
You are not going to get a long e-mail from me this week. I used my computer time to teach the man next to me. He was taught by missionaries three months ago, but because he was on probation, he could not get baptized. Since he stopped going to church, he has been involved in worldly affairs--drugs, gang, etc. Hopefully he will act on the invitation I gave him to come back to the church and allow the Lord to straighten out his life.
I only have time for one story here it is: This week Elder Pack and I had an experience with anti. We found a lady named Farah on Monday evening and while we were teaching her, we noticed a 16 passenger van pull onto the street. The van unloaded the individuals who had been riding and ALL 16 people would go up to one door and attempt to "witness" to those inside. It was very distracting as we taught Farah. Half way through the lesson, the group had visited every house on the street other than the one that we were standing in front of. They sat on the other side of the street and watched with hungry eyes as they waited to pounce on this seeker of truth. No sooner did we finish the closing prayer that the group surrounded Farah. The sheer number of people was intimidating and they proceeded to undo all the truth that we taught Farah. The so-called "bishop" appeared from the inner midst of the mob and began to question us, as the rest of the group focused on Farah. We calmly answered his questions and read from the Book of Mormon. Elder Pack bore a strong witness. After Elder Pack's testimony the preacher could not contend with him any further and retreated back into the crowd. It was very interesting. Anyways, long story short, we have not gotten back in contact with Farah. I feel bad for her, but honestly I feel worse for those individuals who temporarily damned her eternal progression. The scripture comes to mind in Matthew chapter 7 where Christ warns of false prophets, "wolves in sheep's clothing." I know this is not an original statement, but it applies to Florence at the moment: Florence is "adver-city." Even with the challenges that lie ahead, I am confident in the Lord's promises especially found in the Standard of Truth.
"The Standard of Truth has been erected
No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing
Persecution may rage, mobs may combine, and calumny may assemble,
but the truth of God will go forth boldly nobly and independent
till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say:
The work is done"
-Joseph Smith Jr.
I know that the Lord has great things in store this upcoming week, for why else would the adversary try so hard to hinder our progress?
Update on other investigators: Gloria dropped us and Dante has not been keeping his commitments and Darlene Selph is still smoking. I feel bad updating you with all these negative things, but don't worry I am very excited for this next week. Come what may and LOVE IT!
I love each of you, and I am so proud of your efforts to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. Each of you are an example to me and I am very thankful for you prayers and continuous support.
Love,
Elder Cowan
You are not going to get a long e-mail from me this week. I used my computer time to teach the man next to me. He was taught by missionaries three months ago, but because he was on probation, he could not get baptized. Since he stopped going to church, he has been involved in worldly affairs--drugs, gang, etc. Hopefully he will act on the invitation I gave him to come back to the church and allow the Lord to straighten out his life.
I only have time for one story here it is: This week Elder Pack and I had an experience with anti. We found a lady named Farah on Monday evening and while we were teaching her, we noticed a 16 passenger van pull onto the street. The van unloaded the individuals who had been riding and ALL 16 people would go up to one door and attempt to "witness" to those inside. It was very distracting as we taught Farah. Half way through the lesson, the group had visited every house on the street other than the one that we were standing in front of. They sat on the other side of the street and watched with hungry eyes as they waited to pounce on this seeker of truth. No sooner did we finish the closing prayer that the group surrounded Farah. The sheer number of people was intimidating and they proceeded to undo all the truth that we taught Farah. The so-called "bishop" appeared from the inner midst of the mob and began to question us, as the rest of the group focused on Farah. We calmly answered his questions and read from the Book of Mormon. Elder Pack bore a strong witness. After Elder Pack's testimony the preacher could not contend with him any further and retreated back into the crowd. It was very interesting. Anyways, long story short, we have not gotten back in contact with Farah. I feel bad for her, but honestly I feel worse for those individuals who temporarily damned her eternal progression. The scripture comes to mind in Matthew chapter 7 where Christ warns of false prophets, "wolves in sheep's clothing." I know this is not an original statement, but it applies to Florence at the moment: Florence is "adver-city." Even with the challenges that lie ahead, I am confident in the Lord's promises especially found in the Standard of Truth.
"The Standard of Truth has been erected
No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing
Persecution may rage, mobs may combine, and calumny may assemble,
but the truth of God will go forth boldly nobly and independent
till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say:
The work is done"
-Joseph Smith Jr.
I know that the Lord has great things in store this upcoming week, for why else would the adversary try so hard to hinder our progress?
Update on other investigators: Gloria dropped us and Dante has not been keeping his commitments and Darlene Selph is still smoking. I feel bad updating you with all these negative things, but don't worry I am very excited for this next week. Come what may and LOVE IT!
I love each of you, and I am so proud of your efforts to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. Each of you are an example to me and I am very thankful for you prayers and continuous support.
Love,
Elder Cowan
Monday, June 7, 2010
Reward for Diligence--Gloria Brown
Dear Family,
This week was great. We worked really hard all week trying to see medias, but nothing was resulting from any of the effort that we were putting in, then at 8:00 pm Saturday night, while riding our bikes to a media's house, we rode past a woman putting together a BBQ grill. As we drove by, the lady stopped what she was doing to wave at us as we drove by. I decided to turn back around and see if there was anything we could do to help her. The lady introduced herself as Gloria Brown and she gladly allowed us to put her BBQ together. As we worked, we began to teach her the gospel. We finished the BBQ and then went into the experience Joseph Smith had as he was searching for more truth. The spirit was very strong and the spirit bore witness to me that she knew that what we were teaching her was true. I followed the instruction we received at zone interviews and I told her that I knew that she knew that these things were true. Gloria accepted a baptismal date and really wanted to come to church. As we rode home after the lesson, we simultaneously called everyone from the ward to see if someone could give her a ride. Our efforts did not produce the desired result and we were not able to find anyone on Saturday night to give her a ride to church. On Sunday morning, while conducting the correlation meeting, the Relief Society president volunteered to pick her up. Fifteen minutes before the meeting was to begin, Sister Dew (RS Pres.) left the church to go pick up our investigator. Right as the first verse of the sacrament hymn was being sung, Sister Dew and Gloria Brown entered the chapel. The meeting was great. I love testimony meetings. As soon as the meeting ended, Sister Dew approached Elder Pack and me and told us that she had taught Gloria Brown's children in school! We saw Gloria arise from her pew and then she walked up to another one of the members of our ward and gave her a big hug. To our surprise, she knew several members of the congregation. She loved the rest of the meeting. We have an appointment with her tonight and she is coming to Book of Mormon study on Wednesday, and then on Thursday she is attending enrichment night. I am so excited to see her further progress in the gospel. The goal for this next week is to have Gloria Brown living WOW and LOC in order to add her to accountability. It was a sweet way to end the week after spending so many hours with the medias with no success. I am thankful for the Lord's help in giving me the strength to continue to work and be diligent. I love you!
Love,
Elder Cowan
This week was great. We worked really hard all week trying to see medias, but nothing was resulting from any of the effort that we were putting in, then at 8:00 pm Saturday night, while riding our bikes to a media's house, we rode past a woman putting together a BBQ grill. As we drove by, the lady stopped what she was doing to wave at us as we drove by. I decided to turn back around and see if there was anything we could do to help her. The lady introduced herself as Gloria Brown and she gladly allowed us to put her BBQ together. As we worked, we began to teach her the gospel. We finished the BBQ and then went into the experience Joseph Smith had as he was searching for more truth. The spirit was very strong and the spirit bore witness to me that she knew that what we were teaching her was true. I followed the instruction we received at zone interviews and I told her that I knew that she knew that these things were true. Gloria accepted a baptismal date and really wanted to come to church. As we rode home after the lesson, we simultaneously called everyone from the ward to see if someone could give her a ride. Our efforts did not produce the desired result and we were not able to find anyone on Saturday night to give her a ride to church. On Sunday morning, while conducting the correlation meeting, the Relief Society president volunteered to pick her up. Fifteen minutes before the meeting was to begin, Sister Dew (RS Pres.) left the church to go pick up our investigator. Right as the first verse of the sacrament hymn was being sung, Sister Dew and Gloria Brown entered the chapel. The meeting was great. I love testimony meetings. As soon as the meeting ended, Sister Dew approached Elder Pack and me and told us that she had taught Gloria Brown's children in school! We saw Gloria arise from her pew and then she walked up to another one of the members of our ward and gave her a big hug. To our surprise, she knew several members of the congregation. She loved the rest of the meeting. We have an appointment with her tonight and she is coming to Book of Mormon study on Wednesday, and then on Thursday she is attending enrichment night. I am so excited to see her further progress in the gospel. The goal for this next week is to have Gloria Brown living WOW and LOC in order to add her to accountability. It was a sweet way to end the week after spending so many hours with the medias with no success. I am thankful for the Lord's help in giving me the strength to continue to work and be diligent. I love you!
Love,
Elder Cowan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
