Background

Favorite Scripture

Alma 37:37
Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Elder Mower Letter #13

Hello everybody!!! Not too much has happened this week unfortunately but I will do my best to make the most of it in this letter. We have received LOTS of referrals. The most solid one is Jamie Hansen. She is friends with a member in Northview, MN. We haven't been able to get a hold of her yet but the members that she knows are working VERY hard to get her with us. She is practically homeless but said that she is looking for a church. She also said that she is more than willing to meet with us! :D So once we meet with her, I think we can get her committed to baptism. The hardest part is just getting in contact with her. We'll see. We are trying to also come into contact with a man named Rob. He moved from Farmington, MN and the Elders there referred him to us. He also requested a Book of Mormon and for a missionary visit but when we stopped by his address, it was actually his workplace. It was a tux store. So we walk in and ask for Rob but he wasn't there. We told the co-worker who we were and he said Rob got his hands on a Book of Mormon! So now we are hoping to get in touch with him soon so we can start teaching. We also received another referral from the zone leaders in Rochester, MN. His name is Andrew. We don't know too much information about him but i will be sure to let you all know!

This week we gave 2 blessings. We gave a few more last week as well. The Spirit is always so strong during blessings because it is God's power. With faith, you can do anything with the Priesthood within the bounds of the Lord. I had the opportunity to give one of the blessings. I had never given a blessing before so it was so neat but also it was such a testimony builder of how real the Priesthood power really is. Such an amazing experience.

We picked up on a new investigator this week! His name is Don. He didn't seem too interested until we mentioned that the family can be together after death and forever. He is divorced and has a 2 year old son, Kaden. He has served some jail time and we actually found him drinking one time. But he loves his son SO much and wants to be with him forever. We gave him a plan of salvation pamphlet and committed him to read and pray about it. I can really see him being baptized and sealed to Kaden. I pray and hope that this miracle will happen in their lives so that they can come to their heavenly home.

Here is my spiritual thought of the week. Overall this was a very rough week. Motivation in our district was very low and there wasn't a whole lot of faith. Elder Baker and I were kind of slacking off with our prayers this week. So we decided that it would be best to take an hour out of our two hours of companionship study to have an "Enos prayer experience". We prayed for an hour straight. I have never said such a heart-felt prayer in my life. The Spirit was INTENSE. As I was pondering the things I prayed about, these are the words that I heard: "Remember this love." At first I thought: "wow. that's a little bit broad and not clear." but I thought about it for a while and I finally got it! I truly felt the love of my Savior as I prayed because feelings in that prayer were indescribable and powerful. As I have felt the Saviors love, I need to feel the same way towards those Elder Baker and I teach. I love them but do I strive to love them like Christ loves them? That lead me to make it a priority to love them even more than i do and to "remember this love" as I teach them. I encourage each of you to pray sincerely for the Saviors love to be upon you and then to "remember this love" not to keep to yourselves but to share it with others, just as the Lord would. I testify that as we bear witness of our loving Heavenly Father to the world, no matter how crazy this world is and no matter how much hope seems lost, that they will ""remember this love" and they can find peace in their lives through our Best Friend, Jesus Christ.

Love Elder Mower

Monday, August 22, 2011

Elder Mower Letter #12

Hola from Eagan!

It was yet another crazy but miracle filled week here in Eagan! I had my first zone conference just last Wednesday in Oakdale. President Clements was there. He gave us A LOT of insight as always! The highlight of zone conference was when we got to walk out to the St. Paul temple (it was in the same parking lot as the church building). He told us to imagine our investigators going into the temple to be sealed for all time and eternity and then to imagine the pure joy when they come out. It was pretty powerful and emotional. Me and all the missionaries bore their testimonies after that. It was soooo spiritual. I like one thing that President Clements said: "Mission determines mortality, mortality determines eternity, therefore, mission determines eternity." That's why its sooo important for all of us to be missionaries throughout our lives. I promise that there is no greater happiness that comes from sharing gospel with all the world.

Elder Baker and I also had the opportunity to go to the Presidents fireside just last night with Sister Briggs, a recently reactivated member. This is held every 3rd Sunday of the month and you can come if someone that you are working with is able to come (we didn't have anyone to bring last month). We heard some POWERFUL testimonies of people who were just baptized. There was this one man named John who strengthened my testimony. He has LOTS of tattoos everywhere on his body and has gauges. He has had such a hard past but made a BIG change. He was heavily involved in drugs and alcohol and he ended up in prison eventually. Him and his friend (now wife) wanted to get married and start a family after he came out of prison and went through rehab. He also decided that it would be best if the family had spiritual guidance in their lives. So they went to a Baptist church i think. He liked it a lot but he felt like something was still missing. THE missionaries ended up coming over and they showed him the Restoration DVD. He expressed that he felt an overwhelming yet peaceful feeling and he knew that it was the Spirit. He knew that this was what was missing. He wanted to be baptized after that and receive the fullness of the gospel. That strengthened my testimony because it just shows that even the foulest of all sinners CAN CHANGE! I know it because I have seen it through this mans testimony!

We have had a very successful week considering our success since I came in the mission field. We picked up on 3 referrals, received a new investigator, and invited 3 people to baptism on our first initial contact with them. Our new investigator is Victor, the man who i said last week is more worried about the chaos in the world than coming closer to Jesus Christ. We visited with his brother before and after a while of investigating, his brother asked us not to come by anymore. But then a month ago, we received a prompting to go back there and we met Victor who is now an investigator! Victor just got laid off about 2 months ago and he is really struggling but he is in his humility phase and really trying to have faith and be patient with God. We gave him a blessing of comfort and he really appreciated it. The Spirit was so strong there. I knew that the priesthood is real and that the Savior perhaps has done the same thing 2000 years ago that Elder Baker and I did. We received a referral from the sister missionaries in Northville I believe. Her name is Jamie Hansen and we have heard that she is homeless. The members in Northville and working with us to try and start teaching her. We are pretty sure that if the members are working this hard for her, then she must be a legitimate referral. We also received 2 referrals from the Burnsville Elders where one of my VERY good friends from BYUI is serving (Elder Sande). One is Diane and we contacted her a few nights ago but gave us an excuse that she was too busy to meet with us at all. she said that she would keep our number. At least a seed is planted right? the next one is a very solid referral (according to the Burnsville Elders) and his name is Maleike. We haven't contacted him yet but we are still trying. Ill get back to you all on that. For contacting we invited 3 people to baptism. 2 said no but one did say YES! the bad news is that she gave us a wrong phone number though. We were so sad but its ok. The missionaries will come across her sometime down the road. We were definitely A LOT more bold this week and we are being more successful as missionaries because of that. We taught Mary Hellan this week with a member named Brother Stettler. He is VERY missionary minded and LOVES to preach the gospel. The problem with Mary Hellan is that she doesn't understand fully why we are there. She thinks that we are there to compare our faith with Catholicism but she feels something different when we come over like we are her "angels." Brother Stettler definitely helped us out in knowing how to be bold with her. She likes to dominate the conversation and as you all know, I am not the most outspoken person so it is a challenge! but aside of the spiritual things I am learning, I am learning sooooo many social skills and how to talk to people on my mission. Its really good for you in EVERY aspect of your life.

My spiritual thought for the week is in Luke 18:18-25 (sorry it is so long) which says: "And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not bkill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." President Clements also referred to this story at zone conference telling us that each of us has something that we lack like this rich man. But let us be willing to find that which we lack and to make it better. We all have weaknesses. I have weaknesses every day on my mission. They may not be big all the time but they are there for sure. We all have them. I pondered President Clements remarks and i decided as a result to make a sacrifice list to give up all those things that i lack. I encourage you all to do the same. I have received divine strength as a make small but meaningful sacrifices for the Lord to better lose myself in his work. I have found that a lot of times i would miss my hobbies at home while i am on my mission. I have been able to focus more on the work as i made this sacrifice list. Remember this: "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Luke 12:34)." As we sacrifice all things we have for the gospel, our hearts will be dedicated to the Lord and we will never be more happy. I thank you all for all the love and support given to me and may the Lord bless you as you strive to diligently dedicate all that you have to glorify the name of Jesus Christ!!!

Love Elder Mower

Friday, August 19, 2011

Another Surprise Picture

I feel so blessed to have the Manzella family taking care of my boy! I got another surprise picture of Elder Mower after he had dinner with their family! All I can think is that poor mom who has to send off four boys on missions!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Pictures!!!

Elder Mower sent us some more pictures. Again, I have no idea what they are pictures of, but oh well! We just love getting them!

 

 

 

 

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Monday, August 15, 2011

Elder Mower Letter #11

Hello to Cali from the MMM!!!

It has been an awesome week!!! VERY stressful i must say. Because my companion is our district leader, we go on companionship exchanges at least once per week. So while he is doing district leader business, i have to do all the planning for like half of the days and sometimes i have to take over the area. Because we do more driving for these things, that means less driving and more biking! lol. but thank goodness that the humidity is dying down! That is a tender mercy from the Lord. haha Pretty overwhelming as a new missionary. But it was a humbling experience and i didn't do as bad as i thought that i would because i relied on the Lord for help. So this whole district leader deal is keeping both me and Elder Baker on our toes but we are hanging in there!!! he was pretty humbled and honored to hear that he would be a district leader.

So here is the scoop of what has happened in Eagan. We stopped by Victor last Monday. He is a potential investigator who has been struggling with finding a job. I cant remember what he does for a living. Anyways, We went over there and he has a desire to have faith and patience in the Lord, but he is more concerned about the craziness that is happening in the world. Like we would be ready to teach him and then he would go on and on about the riots in London, the status of the economy, and what not...We are praying that he will see that these things don't matter in an eternal sense because "if it isn't ok, then its not the end yet." There is a video that we committed him to watch on Mormon.org. it is a video that he relates to. It is titled "Hope Ya Know, We Had A Hard Time." It is based off of one of Elder Cooks talks. It is about a man who gets laid off and is really struggling because he doesn't know how he will support his wife and kids. As he was pulling into his driveway, he notices an old man, who is his next door neighbor, that is struggling with taking his trash can to his garage. This man has had health problems. So then the younger one goes and helps out the elderly man and they both just look happy after that. Service can really heal us of sorrow. The medicine for our sorrows is helping out our fellow neighbors who are burdened perhaps more than we are. Its an amazing video and i encourage all to watch it. So back to the work: Me and Elder Baker tried something new for planning on where to proselyte. Its called inspired contacting. So we would pick a general area to tract and write 7 streets w/ crossroads where we feel inspired to go. Then we would compare our results. Everytime we did, we had at least one of the same streets. It was so cool to see that we wernt choosing our own preferences but choosing what the Spirit was telling us. The power of the Holy Ghost is SO REAL! Sister Hampton is a less active member. We almost got her to church last Sunday but the members that were supposed to call and give her a ride never called her. Elder Baker and I were very disappointed. Less active members deserve special attention to both full-time missionaries and member missionaries. Members are VITAL to missionary work. Thats something that worries me about the ward here, that members arent all that excited about missionary work. Support the missionaries wherever you are and help them out because they really need it. The missionaries cant do this great work of God alone!!!! Take advantage of every missionary opportunity as members! We got a new investigator on Friday! her name is Bridget! she isn't the most solid investigator because she isn't willing to change her religion but she has A LOT of faith in Jesus Christ and is willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We just need to help her receive that witness from the Holy Ghost and to find the desire to act upon this witness. We are praying for her. On Saturday, we went on a blitz with the elders in Cottage Grove (WE traveled to cottage grove). The point of blitzes is to help double the effort in an area. So 1 hour of proselyting would really be 2 for 2 companionship's in an area. We got them a pretty solid potential investigator. Her name was Lindsay. It wasn't all that easy to talk to her because she was appealing to the eye. LOL. Elder Baker did most of the talking and I just helped out but she was VERY willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. the Cottage Grove missionaries were VERY grateful. Other than these things we have had a few potentials drop us while we picked up on a few more so ill be sure to give you all the report on that next week.

So here is my spiritual thought for the week: I was feeling like i wasn't quite as in-tune with the Spirit this week when i taught. So i thought about it and why that was. I prayed and nothing came. So then i came across an answer to my prayers from a quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks that says: "Each of us is influenced strongly by our own desires and preferences. We may even mistake these influences as the ratification or prompting of the Holy Ghost. It is therefore significant when we feel prompted to do something contrary to our personal preference. That is good evidence of authenticity. Conversely, a feeling that seems to confirm a person in some action he or she strongly desires should be received with caution and subjected to more than one test of validity. In that circumstance a person could well ask himself, 'Am I humbly submitting myself to the will of my Heavenly Father and asking for his guidance, or am I proudly submitting my will to my Heavenly Father and asking for his approval?' Humility is more likely to receive inspiration; pride is more likely to be deceived and fall." I pondered that question and thought back to the perfect example of humility from the Savior's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said Father if it be possible, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not as i will, but as thou wilt. The Savior didn't ask for his will to be granted, he willingly submitted his will to His Father's will. I know that if we strive to be more humble in our lives, we will experience the joy of receiving inspiration from our Father in Heaven. I know that if we strive for humility, we will find more joy in being obedient to the Lord. I know that if we strive for humility, we will feel the peace of everlasting forgiveness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that if we strive for humility, we will feel more joy in becoming more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ everyday of our lives.

Thank you for all of your support and remember to be thou humble.

Much love,

Elder Mower

Surprise Picture!!!


A sister from our ward here in Castaic has a best friend in Eagan, Minnesota. She contacted her and asked her if Elder Mower was in her ward. To our surprise, he was, and in fact she had taken a picture of him and Elder Baker at the baptism of Dylan. This was Elder Mower's first baptism. What a great surprise it was to have this surprise picture sent to me! He looks so happy, doesn't he?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Elder Mower Letter #10

Hey everybody!!!

It is a beautiful day in Eagan! Everyday is a great day to talk about Jesus Christ!!!

How about a little bit of humor: Just as I was typing this email, this Mong man comes to me and Elder Baker and he thought we were the men in black! Pretty cool right???

Also, Elder Baker told me something that President Howell (our last mission president) told him and another group of Elders: "Think about it: you walk around in a white shirt and tie talking about Jesus all day every day! Elders, your NOT COOL!" So I hate to announce that I am officially not cool anymore! Sorry to disappoint all of you! haha

This week was nothing but MIRACLES!!!! I'd like to start off with probably the coolest miracle on my mission that happened yesterday! So about a few weeks ago, we got a potential investigator in rosemount and we never got his name, just his address. I felt so bad about it. So that night I prayed and prayed and prayed to know what his name was. the name of Chris popped in my head. I didn't know what that meant though. So yesterday came and we knocked on his door. He wasn't home. So then we start talking to this other man across the street from this house. His name was (you guessed it) Chris. He became a potential investigator and was very willing to let us come back and teach a message to him. That is why the name Chris came to my mind. Its amazing how revelation can also work miracles of faith. I was very surprised at first but it was honestly so amazing. I'm praying that me and my companion will be able to teach this man.

I wasn't the only one to receive revelation though. Elder Baker had another miracle. We were biking around Rosemount last Saturday and we came across this random street. Elder Baker got a strong prompting to go there. So we knocked on the doors there and we found a less active woman whom we have no records in Eagan ward. On top of that, she was going through a nasty divorce and needed comfort. It was her mom who answered at the door because she was at the hospital. Her mom was also LDS and does not want to come back but she knows that the missionaries of the Church are good people so she told us to come back for her daughter. We found a lost sheep. That was so neat to see the Spirit working through us to bring miracles to pass in other peoples lives.

There wasn't one day where we haven't had a miracle. Our Potential Investigators have gone off the charts, we have had A LOT of quality gospel discussions, We've given out MANY Books of Mormon, and people are willing to hear our message. Great things are happening in Minnesota, let me tell ya!

So Dylan was baptized about a week ago. Now he wants to get the priesthood and baptize his 7 year old brother next year. We are so excited for him. He loves church and he will, without a doubt, be an AWESOME missionary. We extended the Nelsons kids to be baptized. There are 3 of them. So if we can set a date with them in August, then we will have 3 baptisms this month! We taught Sister Briggs the Plan of Salvation last Wednesday and she liked it. She did ask some interesting questions though. Never an easy thing for a missionary to answer these things. Actually that is it for the people we have taught this week. This was more of a finding week than a teaching week. We have proselyted 25 hours this week. That is a lot and we are happy with the results.

We are trying to get the members more involved in missionary work so if any one has ideas please let us know! Gracias! :]

So here is the spiritual thought of the week. In Doctrine and Covenants 84:106, it reads: "And if any man among you be strong in the Spirit, let him take with him him that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may become strong also." Brethren and sisters, our seeds of faith have been planted, grown into mighty trees, and some of us have already brought forth fruit. let us be unselfish in sharing that fruit of eternal life. As you invite people to partake of the fruits of eternal life, encourage them to plant their seeds of faith and help them to become strong like unto yourself. Reach out to those whose trees are weakening. Make them strong. Reach out to them as the Savior would. Bear their burdens. Establish hope in their lives. I testify that as we do this, our Heavenly Father will bless us with soooo much happiness in our lives knowing that the Lord brought a miracle to pass through us. Thank you for all that you do, always choose the right, and remember the Savior in all that you do.

Love Elder Mower

Monday, August 1, 2011

Elder Mower Letter #9

Hello everybody!

A great week has gone by here in Eagan! Today we had transfer calls! I cant believe i am done with my first transfer already (There are 17 transfers for English missionaries here). Time flies fast in the field. It really does. So President Clements called us and apparently my companion, Elder Baker is now our district leader! but we are still together! This week has been so awesome!!! President Clements came out with a new mission goal: To invite 1000 people TO BE BAPTIZED. I'm not gonna lie I'm still very scared about this goal because that is a pretty bold thing to do. He even counseled us to ask people out on the streets. That's pretty gutsy. My companion who has been out for a year, is also very scared about this challenge. We haven't invited anyone yet but we are making it a priority to invite many to baptism in Eagan this upcoming week. This week will be called BOLD WEEK. We are very loving with those people we come in contact with but we aren't as bold as we should be. We'll see how bold week goes!

So here is the missionary work in Eagan this past week: I had my first baptism last Saturday!!! Dylan Gunter, 17 years old, entered the waters of baptism 2 days ago and received the Holy Ghost yesterday during Sacrament meeting. Of all the baptisms I have been to, the Spirit was very different in a very good way. It was stronger as I came to the knowledge that Heavenly Father worked a miracle in Dylan's life through Elder Baker and I. He was so happy after he was baptized. He said that he felt light. It was amazing. We know that he will be a great missionary someday. We had an AWESOME miracle yesterday! We went to a members house to have dinner. The mom hadn't even started dinner yet because she was out visiting teaching. Well, unfortunately we ended up staying MUCH longer than we should have. Then we go to visit some of our potential investigators. We went to Paul and Barbs house. They answered the door and said that we can come in and teach them a lesson. The amazing part is that they said that they just got home. The reason that we stayed at the members house longer was because the Lord made it possible for us to meet with this couple to teach them. The Lord really is causing miracles to happen. Anyways they are a Catholic couple. We taught them about the Restoration, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and eternal families. Barb said that her daughter believes that marriage is only in this life. She really wants to believe that she can be together with her husband and children forever. She said that It doesn't make sense that Heavenly Father would give us families to grow close to them and then just rip them away from us. Heavenly Father wouldn't do that. So we have a great feeling the the concept of eternal families is what will really draw them to the gospel. We invited them to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to know if it is true. They are very busy for the next few months but next time we meet with them, we will extend a baptismal invitation to them. We know that great things are in store for Paul and Barb. We taught Sister Briggs just last Wednesday and another BIG miracle happened! She was having trouble knowing that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. We were working with her since the beginning of the transfer and just this last time we met with her, she finally told us that she KNOWS that the church is true. If the church is true, then the one who restored it today (Joseph Smith) is truly called of God and that the Book of Mormon is true, it being the keystone of our religion. That was so wonderful to hear her say that. She couldn't be doing any better. Now she is trying to get her husband to hear a message from us. He read a little bit from the Book of Mormon so far. I'll keep you all updated on what happens. Not much has happened because it has been a hard week but we have had miracles happening in Eagan! We couldn't be happier!

Here is the spiritual thought of the week: Doctrine and Covenants 103:36: "All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith." I also read in preach my gospel this morning that faith is a principle of power. With unshakable faith, we can do all things and perform many miracles, just like Jesus Christ. Faith precedes miracles. I know that miracles will continue to happen in this mission and throughout the work as we, the defenders of the faith, will continue to be faithful, obedient, prayerful, and bold but loving. The church is SO true. I'll talk to you all later!

Love
Elder Mower