Hello everybody!!!
Sorry about another P Day on Tuesday. We had specialized training yesterday and we met our new mission president, President Clements. He is way cool! he is from Utah, loves golf, and his ancestor is Wilford Woodruff, 4th president of the Church!!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!! I think its pretty neat, but the most important part is that he is a man of God, called to lead this mission and I'm grateful to serve with him as my leader.
It is sooo nice to talk to all of you again!!! So unfortunately, this week has been a pretty difficult week. First off, I'd like to talk about all the fun that Elder Baker and I have had, fixing our bikes! haha I discovered that my chain has not been lubricated or cleaned in a long time. The elder that had this bike before me took POOR care of it. So i cleaned it and my gears the best i could and with about 20 dirty rags, it is still not even close to being clean. Also when I came back from companion exchanges this week, I was told that my back tire was flat. Not a big deal, so I buy a new tube and I put it in. The next day, my front tire goes flat, so I buy ANOTHER tube. But this time as I was filling it with air, I didn't quite put it in the tire tread all the way so then it POPS! so then the next day I buy another tube and right as we were about to go out, my brakes start giving me trouble, so then I stop and fix that. Then right as we went down the hill from our apartment, Elder Baker crashed pretty bad on his bike in the middle of the T intersection. I couldn't help but laugh my head off. He got a new tread for his tire and there were no studs on the side of the tread so his back tire slipped out from under him and he fell. So then we spend about an hour just fixing him up from a pretty bad road rash. You could see his vein popping out from the road rash. It was pretty gnarly. But all is well now. With the trial comes the blessing afterwards!!!
So I got to go on companion exchanges last Tuesday with my district leader, Elder Berns. I went to his area, Redwing. It is pretty much on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin but I didn't get to go into Wisconsin unfortunately. :[ oh well. So he was a pretty good contacter on the streets. We had a lot of quality gospel discussions. We gave out a Book of Mormon. But unfortunately no one was willing to let us come back. We also visited a less active member. I don't remember his name but he was a upper aged man who has kids but was divorced. He lives alone and he said he would come to church if he had better shoes. His church shoes do not fit him anymore. Elder Berns and I tried to show him that all you need at church is your BEST attire. If the best you have is street clothes then thats absolutely fine! But he didn't want to come. Kind of makes me sad but i pray that he'll come around soon. I get to go on another exchange with our zone leaders, Elder Bowen and Browning, tomorrow! I think we will be in Cottage Grove or Hudson but I'm excited!
As far as missionary work in Eagan/Rosemount goes, the last few days were very disappointing for us. 3 investigators dropped us, Hannah, Kelly, and Timothy. Timothy was a referral and he still dropped us. We have had lots of potentials but they never follow up. :[ Elder Baker and I are planning on fasting this week for a new investigator. I'm not supposed to ask family and friends back home to fast so please don't do it by the way please! Thanks! So we will see what happens this week. We got in contact yesterday with a less active family, the Kirks. We actually found out that Brother Kirk was once excommunicated, then came back and was sealed in the temple with his wife, but now he found out that one of his sons might have an alternative lifestyle and he doesn't want the church to judge anybody so he refuses to come back. Because he won't come back, we have to drop him. It's really sad but we are allowed to visit every now and then. We will keep them in our prayers. But later today we are inviting Dylan to be baptized on July 30th, depending if his probation ends by then. He's still a little bit sketchy about Joseph Smith but we are teaching him about the restoration today! We know that he has received a testimony of the gospel so we know that he will for Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He reads and prays everyday so he's looking good! We are also teaching the Nelson family. Ray Nelson, the father, lives with his fiancee but they are postponing their marriage till who knows when. This is because they don't want to pay for more taxes. How silly is that??? So if his wife wants to be baptized, then they need to get married. There was a story that i once heard where some missionaries were teaching a couple who wasn't married and they accepted the invitation to be baptized. So one of the elders makes a wrong turn as they are headed home. The other asks where he was going. He responds: "To pick up their marriage papers. We need to get them married right???" So then the couple was married 10 days later and was baptized. hahaha Its funny but it also shows that we should be bold in preaching the gospel. Maybe not to this degree but definitely BOLD. We got sister Briggs to come to church again. We meet with her tomorrow and we are hoping that she receives that personal witness from the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true and that it contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. That is her status so i will announce what happens next week. We are still trying to meet with Jennifer. Like I said before, her husband committed suicide last February. She is going through a lot of pain. We know how much the gospel will bless her life. We aren't giving up on her at all. She almost came to church. She committed but overslept. We meet with her this Thursday at 1 so we hope that the message of this amazing gospel will bring her happiness and peace in her time of need. That is the missionary work of Eagan and Rosemount in a nutshell.
Well I have to go so here is my spiritual thought of the week. In Mosiah 2:41, it reads: "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and ahappy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are bblessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out cfaithful to the end they are received into dheaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."
Many people wonder why Latter day saints are so happy. This scripture tells us why. its because we do the things the Lord asks. Many people think that freedom will bring them happiness. It may temporarily but not eternally. It is through following the Saviors teachings that we may be happy both temporally and eternally. I know that this church is true and i wouldn't rather be anywhere else than out in Minnesota serving the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. Thank you all for your encouragement and love for me. Keep up the missionary work wherever you are!!!
Love,
Elder Mower
Dear family:
Thank you for all of your love and support. Keep it up because I'll need every last bit of it.
So to answer your questions mom: The food is surprisingly VERY GOOD! No meat loaf w/ ketchup yet. haha We had quite average food! A lot like your food! Lots of chicken casseroles. A few times we got to eat RIBS! :D There are lots of members that take care of me! One has a son that is a rapper that is going to BYUI and serving a mission soon!!! I did get my pants today and they fit perfectly. surprisingly I do not need to get them hemmed! I didn't get the pull up bar yet but I'll get back to you on that one next week. Can't wait to see what you sent me because you ALWAYS send me some pretty awesome stuff! Thanks mom! :] Tell Brother Noble that he's gonna have to show me his 360 magic on the wake board when i come home! :b Tell Jay to keep trying because he has a 2 year head start and after that, ITS ON! hahaha Many times with members I mentioned how much we love Lake Mead. Can't wait to go back but the humidity makes me feel like I'm there even if its only 90 degrees out! lol We have a car but we also bike. We can only use 1100 miles in a month. The elder before me that had the bike took POOR care of it so now i am afraid that i will learn everything about a bike. hahaha but its alright!!! its good for me! The new mission president is sooooo cool!!! He is from Utah, loves to play golf and interesting fact about him: his great great great...(idk how many greats) grandfather is Wilford Woodruff!!! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?! I think its pretty awesome. But more importantly, he is a great man and i cant wait to serve with him.
All is well and its about my time to get off the computer so I'll talk to you later. Each of you will get a personal letter soon! love you all SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH! :]
Love your son, brother, and missionary,
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