Dear Family, Wow! I am shocked to hear that Dad was called to be the Stake President. What an exciting week for all of us! Stake Conference back home, and transfers for me! As I sat in the transfer meeting, I was excited and also nervous for the change. As I saw my face on the screen, I immediately looked to see who my companion was. My companion is Elder Andersen (The son of a member of the 70. You may remember the talk from April Conference in which the story was told of a young man who used the only Spanish he knew "Tu iglesia hoy!" to activate the teachers quorum), yeah that's my companion! :D) Mom and Dad, you may even know his parents. He graduated from Westwood. He took the Crandall girl to prom :) What a small world. Anyways, after I noticed who my companion was I noticed that above his picture, it had the same words as above my picture: "Transfering In." I then noticed where we were going: Lexington. Elder Anderson and I were "whitewashed" into the Lexington Area. :) I found out later, that the other companionship in my district (Elder McMurrey and Elder Adams), was also "whitewashed." Our entire District is new. None of us know the area but this first week has been a blast! After transfer meeting was completed, and we were swapping our luggage from one car to the next, one of the Assistants, Elder Hepworth, pulled me aside and told me he wanted to talk to me about the area. Elder Hepworth started by telling me that the area in which I have been transferred, was the highest baptizing area one year ago. Since that time, there have been some disobedient missionaries that were sent there, and that the area has not baptized in the past 6 months. He then proceeded to let me know that the President has great faith that we will baptize while here. I was not sure how to respond, but I do know and I told Elder Hepworth that there are people everywhere who are being prepared for the gospel, and if I am living right, the Lord will use me to accomplish his great and marvelous work. I have not even begun to talk about my week and my time on the computer is almost up! :) Elder Andersen is great. I cannot believe I never met him before the mission. We know all the same people! Elder Andersen has only been out on his mission for a couple of months and he still has the "fire." We have set a baptismal goal of four baptisms this transfer. Oh I know this email is way random and my thoughts are scattered, but in this area, Elder Andersen and I cover two wards: Lexington Ward and Gilbert Ward. This is my first time covering two wards and it is quite the experience. Church is interesting. We jump back and forth between the two wards. This week has been a blur. Elder Andersen and I have a lot of work to get done. The previous missionaries left the apartment in a mess, we need to update our map, and we are still trying to hunt down the investigators the previous missionaries were working with. The previous Elders did not keep any records!! But among all of the crazy projects we are working on, I have already seen so many miracles occurring here in Lexington. The biggest one of all was meeting Jessica and Anthony. We were walking down a street yesterday and as we walked up to a house, a car pulled up at the same time. Inside the car was Anthony, his wife Jessica, and their three children ages 7, 3, and 1. We told them we were servants of Jesus Christ and they welcomed us right into their home. As we sat down on the couch, before we had even said anything, Jessica asks, "My husband and I are searching for a church. We want to get baptized, but how are we to know which church is right?" :D!!!!!! We then taught the Restoration, and the importance of prayer to find the truth. We are seeing them again on Wednesday. I love this work! I am so blessed to witness the Holy Ghost bare testimony to the people we teach. I know this gospel is true. I know Jesus is the Christ, and he called Joseph Smith to be a prophet through whom he restored the Gospel. I love you all! Love, Elder Cowan
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