Finding a family, Brandon and Hives!

Dear Family,

I am sorry I was not able to write a letter last week. This week we are emailing from the office at our apartment and there is no time limit so I think all will be well this week. Last week I was praying for the opportunity to teach a family that lives in our area. We worked hard all week but nothing was coming from it. It was Sunday and we still had not found a family. When we came in for dinner Sunday evening, I was a little bummed because I had not reached my goal. Elder Bjarnson took a nap during dinner, but I was determined to put all my efforts into finding a family. I decided to check the former investigators and read the information that was left from previous missionaries to try and find one that may have potential. I picked out two names that I wanted to go and see, and then we went out to work. We had planned to see a media that evening (who bailed on us) and so I was curious to find out where the former investigators lived. One of the former investigators lived fairly close to where we were at. The former investigator's name is Stuart and he lives with his grandmother who is a less active member. We reached their house and talked to the grandmother and she was interested in having us come back by and she was interested in coming back to church. We were not able to teach them right then because it was getting dark and they were going to bed. As we walked down the street, I noticed a man sitting out on his porch, and the thought came to my mind "don't talk to that man." When I recognized what I was thinking, I knew the thought was not coming from God, so I was determined to talk to the man. We walked up to the door and introduced ourselves, and he let us into his house. We met Jimmy and Tikesha who are a couple with four kids. Tikesha's sister, Hope, also lives with them. We taught them about the Book of Mormon, and committed them to be baptized. They told us they were not living right to be baptized, but that they are trying to straighten out their lives. We told them that as missionaries our purpose is to help people come unto Christ. They are interested in having us come by and help them keep the commandments and follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. At 7:45 Sunday evening, I had reached my goal. Elder Bjarnson and I found a family. :) That was last week's highlight. On to this week.

This week Elder Bjarnson and I were on the bikes. :) The highlight for this week was Brandon. We were out tracting on Thursday and we knocked on a door and a grumpy old lady came to the door and told us to leave. We politely excused ourselves and started to walk toward our bikes. As we were walking away, a man came out of the house and yelled at us to stop. The man introduced himself as Brandon. He is the caretaker of the old lady. He was interested in hearing our message. He told us, "I want to know why you are so excited." We set up an appointment for the following day. Friday we taught Brandon a first lesson and he soaked everything up. He fell away from church because of his "scientific mind," but he recently realized that all things "denotes there is a God" and he loved the idea of another prophet on the earth today. We set up a return appointment for the following day. Saturday we brought Jackson, a member from the ward, with us to the appointment. We arrived and a lady answered the door. She told us that Brandon was on his way home, and she invited us in. We talked with Jessica and when Brandon came home, we invited her to join us in our discussion, but she said she was not interested. We began to teach the Plan of Salvation. As we were talking about our pre-earth life, Jessica piped in, "so you are telling us that God knew me before I was born?" :) We had her. We told her that she was a daughter of God, and that He knows her personally and cares for her. This caught her attention and she joined us for the rest of the discussion. We have a return appointment with Jessica and Brandon on Tuesday. Those are two miracles I had the past two weeks.

Oh one last story. On Saturday it was raining really bad so Elder Bjarnson and I wore our rain coats. When we came in for lunch, I had hives on my arms and neck. By the end of lunch they had disappeared, so we went back out to work. By the end of the night, I had hives all over my body. :) The mission doctor called a pharmacy and ordered me a prescription. I am allergic to the polyester material that my rain coat is made out of. :) It has not bothered me in the past because I normally wear the fleece lining within my coat. The temperature was not very cold so I took the fleece out! :) It was quite a funny experience. Well I need to go. I love you all and I hope this email will suffice!

Love,
Elder Cowan

The Joys of Whitewashing

Dear Family,

I hope this email reaches you. Today has been the worst I have ever seen myldsmail.net. It has taken me an entire hour to open and read your emails. :) To answer Dad's question: "whitewashed" means that Elder Bjarnson and I are both new to the area. Neither of us knew who was being taught, any of the members, or the location. It also did not help that everyone was out of town Labor Day weekend so our first week was "in the dark." Now things are beginning to pick up. I wish you could see our proselyting area. It is the weirdest shape. We only cover the east side of Simpsonville, a piece of Greenville, Five Forks, Greer, Taylors, (Erin if you read this I do cover a small sliver of your home town. :) and Fountain Inn. I don't know if you can find a map of the Simpsonville 1st Ward, but if you could, you would see that our area looks like a fish. :) I can't remember if I told you or not, but this area is the smallest area in the Greenville East Stake, and 1/5 of the size of the Anderson Ward. Because of its small boundaries, Elder Bjarnson and I have had a difficult time trying to find people who live in our area. Every night when I call the zone leaders, not only do I stand accountable for my district, but I also give them the information for those whom we have found because none of the investigators live in our area, so the zone leaders then give that information to whichever set of Elders in which they live in. We found 3 FAMILIES this week and they all live outside our area. :) Elder Bjarnson and I only found one investigator this week who lives in our area. I know I don't believe in karma, but with all the investigators we give away to other elders, it would be nice to have some investigators given to us. :D I wish I had more to write about. The quote from PMG is true, "nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach." Elder Bjarnson and I are trying to make things happen. In this area, I believe we are going to have to rely on the members more to give us referrals and people to teach. Speaking of members, I met a member and his name is....ugh I can't think of it! Anyways Dad and Mom will know the name. This man served with Dad in the Elders Quorum presidency while at BYU! I think his last name is Barlow. It was really funny. When I went up to introduce myself, he looked at my name tag, and the first thing he said was "Mike Cowan." It really surprised me because I'm 2000 miles away from home. He even remembered Amy Dennis. :) Anyway, I gave him the ma_cowan@cox.net email address. I could not remember Dad's other email addresses. Well this has been a very strange email. I love you all. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and the opportunity that I have to represent Him and be a part of the greatest work on the earth! I hope all is well.

Love Elder Cowan

Hello Simpsonville

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letter. I have been transferred. I have to get a new library card. Without a library card I can only be on the internet for five minutes. This is going to be a very short email. I am now serving in Simpsonville area. The area is much different from my last area. Simpsonville is about 1/5 the geographical size of Anderson, and the average income in MUCH higher. I am serving with Elder Bjarnson (the young man we met at distribution before my mission). Elder Bjarnson was in the same MTC district as me. My time is out. I love you!

Elder Cowan

Hello! I jumped on the Elder Stephen's computer. He finished emailing early. It's really interesting being white washed into the area. Elder Bjarnson and I are still trying to meet everyone and get everything all figured out. The funny part is that this last Sunday, the Bishop, Ward Mission Leader, and the gospel essentials teacher were all out of town for the Labor Day weekend. So the three people we work with were not there to give us any information on the area.

In the one week that I've been here, Elder Bjarnson and I have been kicked out of four neighborhoods for "soliciting." (We are not solicitors because we are not selling anything.) :) We have not had any success finding anyone our first week. It's sad that those who have a lot of money feel that they don't need religion and they don't feel two teenage boys can teach them anything. Oh well. We just go on to the next house and keep searching for "those who will receive you" and I also remember the scripture which says, "let no man despise thy youth." I know I am young, but I have been called of God. When someone slams the door in my face or kicks me out of a neighborhood, it's not me they are rejecting, they are rejecting the message I bring and they reject Jesus Christ. Some day they will be humble and ready to receive the message of the Restoration. I have also been asked to be the district leader. The other companionship in our district is Elder Stephens and Elder Stocks. They serve in the Greer area and they are on bikes. We are going to have a great transfer and work our hearts out. I love you all and yes as dad said in his letter: Born in the upstate, Serve in the upstate! :D

Love,
Elder Cowan

First Transfer

Dear Family,

I did receive the package. I also received a phone call Saturday night telling me to pack my bags and I'm going to the Transfer meeting on Wednesday down in Columbia. I do not know where I am going or who I am serving with. It's a surprise! This is going to be a very short email this week because I have to pack my suit case today. I had no idea Liesel was pregnant. When is she due? I had a great week here in Anderson. I can only give some highlights from the week.

Elder Taylor and I went over to Kent and Holly's and we had a great family home evening. We got all of their children involved which was a miracle in and of itself because their kids are CRAZY! :) One of their children had never even spoken to Elder Taylor or me before our visit this week. Our family home evening was centered around a "gospel version" of "Don't Eat Pete." Instead of having cartoon pictures on the board, we put: Salt Lake temple, Book of Mormon, Bible, missionaries, Jesus, families, Joseph Smith, prayer, and baptism. Every time they picked up the candy on the square, the kids had to say what the picture was, and why it is important. Example: Temple. The children had to remember that it is "the house of God". Anyways the kids really enjoyed it, and at the end of the lesson Sabrina, the 6 year old daughter wanted to say the closing prayer. We also had Carey Burriss (blind man) come to church this Sunday. He really enjoyed it. I wish I could stay to continue to watch him progress, but like Dad said, "Come what may and love it!" I Love this work. I love the opportunity to invite others to come unto Jesus Christ. I hope and pray all is well and I will talk to you next week from a new location! :) 

Love,
Elder Cowan

6 Months

Dear Family,

I never know how to begin a letter. :) I'm glad you received my letter last week. The computers at the library have a time limit, and once the time runs out, the computer logs off and any work that is on the computer is lost. Last week I finished my email with 50 seconds left before the computer was going to log off. I hit the send button, and I watched the little bar at the bottom of the screen, and by the time the 50 seconds were up, only two of the squares were filled in. The combination of these stone age computers with myldsmail.net makes for an adventure every week while trying to email. :) Last Monday (17th) Elder Merrell and Elder Johnson (the zone leaders) came down to Anderson to blitz our area. I am so thankful for the zone leaders. They sacrifice so much to help the zone progress, not just the investigators in their own area. With our three baptisms last week, Elder Taylor and I were in need of some help finding some new investigators who will progress. Anyways, I'm just rambling, but the zone leaders came down Monday night then worked with us Tuesday. Since I worked with Elder Merrell last time, I went with Elder Johnson. We had a very good day. We picked up a lead named Darrel as an investigator and taught a very good lesson. At the end, Darrel knelt down and asked Heavenly Father if Joseph Smith was a prophet. Darrel really wants to get involved. Timing is such an important part of missionary work. Darrel told us that when we met him on the street a month ago (when we picked him up as a lead) he had no interest in hearing our message, but he decided to give us his house address anyways. When Elder Johnson and I went by, he told us that the night before he was talking to his sister and during the conversation he decided that he needed to start coming back to church. We are not in charge. Every day there is a miracle. I just love it!

Tuesday night we went on an exchange with Brother Lively, and we went and taught Kent and Holly. They are loving the gospel. Their lives are far from perfect, and they still have some major hills to overcome in the near future, but they have the faith and recognize that they can get through everything with the Lord. After teaching Kent and Holly, we went on a wild goose hunt trying to deliver a media. :) We finally found the house and the lady was nowhere interested. Wednesday we taught Carey Burriss who is a blind man and on a previous visit we delivered the first binder of Book of Mormon in Braille. When we went over on Wednesday he had read through 1 Nephi 6. He was really enjoying the story but he has not asked God if it is more scripture. :S we will have to see what happens in the future. Anyways, when we left his house we noticed that there was a car in front of Alisa's house (former investigator who wanted us to come over every day, loved everything we taught and wanted her son to be baptized with her) anyways she had just disappeared. We had lost all communication with her, and when we walked over to the house, she popped out of the car. She had gone to Columbia two months ago, but while she was down there, her car died, and she was stuck in Columbia, and then her phone ran out of minutes, anyways long story but she had just got back in this Tuesday. Alisa still has a desire to be baptized so we are going to continue where we left off. Thursday was a blur...Friday was Zone Conference. The assistants talked on improving our prayers and becoming more humble. The training lasted a little longer than planned, so when President stood up to train us the first thing he said was, "I am going to teach you everything I know about the Atonement in the next 15 minutes." We FLEW through so much information, but it was really good. Everyday I realize more and more how stunning and amazing the Atonement really is. The gospel is true. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ.

I love each of you and I am so thankful for the truths that I know and have an opportunity to share with others. Transfers are coming up this next week. I'm a little scared. I love Anderson. I have come to love the members and we continue to find so many people who are ready for the gospel. Whatever happens "the Lord is in it" (Hyrum tells Joseph that in the movie Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration). I am so thankful that the Lord has once again, in love, reached out to mankind and has given us the opportunity to hold the Priesthood and receive revelation for those under our stewardship. My time is out so I must go!

Love,
Elder Cowan

Two week update

Dear family,

I am sorry the email did not get to you. I'm not sure why it did not work. For the time being, I am going to blame myldsmail.net. :) Last week update: It came, it went and I loved every second of it. I don't have much to report from last week so I'm going to spend my time with this week.

Tuesday: On an exchange with Brother Rodger, I visited William Bradberry. William is not doing well. William has diabetes and he does not watch what he eats. He eats anything and everything. His diabetes is attacking his entire body but when we went by this last week I recognized how much it has affected his brain/memory. It was really sad to watch, but then at the same time I am truly grateful that Elder Bowles and I had the opportunity to teach him. It was truly a miracle that for the two and a half weeks that we taught him, William did not have any health problem. I know the Lord restored his health for the short amount of time we worked with him up until his baptism. I know the Lord is in charge.

Wednesday: Elder Merrell (ZL) and Elder Cooney (AP)came to Anderson to do the baptismal interviews for Laura Draper, Kent Byrum, and Holly Byrum. I was a little nervous because these are the first three baptisms that Elder Taylor and I have taught completely on our own. All three passed the interview and then the fun began. We started checking on everything to make sure the baptism would run smoothly. Last Sunday we invited Sister Mortensen to give the talk at the baptism because she has really become good friends with Laura, but on Friday (the day before the baptism) Sister Mortensen called and told us that she was coming to the baptism but she was not going to give the talk. :) Elder Taylor and I luckily found a replacement speaker. Elder Taylor and I also had to find clothes for everyone. This was quite the adventure. We could not find pants that fit Kent. The dress that we borrowed from Sister Black did not fit Holly. What a mess. We did not get the clothes situation figured out until 30 minutes before the baptism. :) Brother Macdonald was in charge of finding a pianist, but she didn't show up, so I had the opportunity to play the piano at the baptism. Brother Trotter baptized Kent and Holly, which was another fiasco because we found out while Holly was in the water that she is afraid of water and Brother Trotter had forgotten the baptismal prayer. :) Holly had to be baptized three times before she went under completely. Elder Taylor baptized Laura. Overall, Elder Taylor and I were at the church for five hours on Saturday. Boy was that tiring. When we finally got back to our apartment I got a killer headache. I felt like death. It was pretty bad. I had Elder Taylor give me a blessing and even with the headache, I decided I was going to go out and work. Sitting in the apartment does not promote baptisms. :P While we drove to the area where we were going to be knocking, my head still throbbed, but once we got out of the car and started knocking on doors, my headache vanished. We worked the rest of the night with no problems. Then when we got back to the apartment, my headache returned. :)  I know the Lord was preserving me as I went about doing His will. I love it. Miracles happen everyday. I just hope I am humble enough to recognize the miracles for what they really are.

On Sunday I confirmed Laura. It's way sad, Kent and Holly were all ready for church a half an hour before, but then the cable man showed up at their house as they were getting ready to go. They told the cable man that they were leaving but he said that this was the only time he was going to be down their direction. He also told them that it would only take a couple of minutes, but because of the cable man, Kent and Holly and their three kids were late to Sacrament meeting. :(  They were not confirmed. I'm not worried about Kent and Holly. I know they will be confirmed, but I just wish it was over so I could finally breathe. It will get done this week.
Okay that's enough about the baptisms for now.

Elder Taylor and I met a man named Eddie and we taught a really good first lesson. Eddie recognizes the corruption in so many churches and everything was great until the First Vision. After we recounted Joseph Smith's experience, Eddie said, "Hold on! You believe Jesus is not God?" I thought is was going to go down hill from there, but when we explained that we do not believe in the Trinity, Eddie responded: "Hallelujah!" Eddie does not believe in the Trinity, which is VERY rare. We have a return appointment with him this following week. We will see what happens. I love this work. I truly appreciate all the prayers and everything you do for me. I am certain I do not want pictures of the family but I would like a picture of Jenny and Kyle.

Love yall!
Elder Cowan

P.S. We had a shot gun pulled on us this week! :)  Got to love the mission! Don't worry mom. Everything is all right.

Slower Week

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a slower week. I've decided the Lord is helping me learn patience. :) Two of our investigators were sick, and three of them were out of town. It seems we spent quite a lot of time looking for new investigators, but our efforts were not very fruitful. Tuesday night Elder Taylor and I went out with a member to deliver medias that people have ordered through the church web site and we stopped by one house that is near Kelli's house. Elder Taylor and I were working with Kelli and her sister Sallie two months ago, but then Sallie lost interest, and so Elder Taylor and I stopped working with both of them. While we were in the neighborhood we stopped by Kelli's house and she was very excited to see us! She had wondered why we had not been by in so long, and she set up an appointment that following day for us to come and visit her. We went back by on Wednesday. Between the two sisters and their four kids jumping around in previous visits, Elder Taylor and I decided that we were going to start over and go from the beginning. We had taught a complete first lesson to the two sisters, but neither one had heard the entire thing. We proceeded to share our message and it actually took us two hours to tie everything together (Heavenly Father, His Begotten Son Jesus Christ, His prophet Joseph Smith, His teachings in the Bible and the Book of Mormon)! I do not think I have ever had an appointment that long before, but it was fun watching Kelli as we taught because everything was finally coming together for her. :) She kept saying, "Another light bulb, another light bulb!" every time she caught hold of what we were saying. We will have to see what the future has in store for her.

Friday was Zone Interviews. Since our car had over 50,000 miles on it, we got a new car. :) A 2009 Toyota Corolla! It's way nice. Elder Taylor and I both decided this is probably going to be the only car we will ever drive in the same year that it came out. :) The trainings were great. Elder Cooney trained on being humble and Elder Solomon trained on contacting like Brigham Young and Wilford Woodruff.

I know the Lord has prepared people for the message I bring. I hope and pray that I may continually improve my relationship with my Father in Heaven. I love this work and I hope and pray all is well with all yall!

Love Elder Cowan