Week Eleven

Elder Nelson said,

"The Lord loves to use the unlikely to achieve the impossible." 

Every missionary here has loved that quote. Each of us in some way are weak, but as we put on the full Armor of God, the Lord can turn each of those weaknesses into strengths. We're only human, but we're also Sons and Daughters of a Heavenly King. We put on the Armor of God by praying many times daily, feasting on God's word, and doing His work on the earth. 

Something a man last night at dinner said to me was that in order to fully put on the Armor of God, we must read the scriptures, but even before that we must humble ourselves before God. We do that by kneeling before our Maker and counting the blessings He has given us. Then we realize how blessed we really are, are humbled, and then we are open to receiving the Spirit and personal revelation as we read the scriptures. I bear my testimony of the strengthening power of the Book of Mormon. I love it so much. It helps me put on the Armor of God everyday, and I pray that each of you will do the same. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

{Sam is doing great!! He's happy and definitely well fed. The members take very good care of their missionaries! He said the mission has a bad reputation of gaining a lot of weight so they are currently working toward a "Fit for the Kingdom 5K." That made me laugh and I can't really picture a fat Sam, but he said he's already gained 10 pounds... The ward he's working in just had some boundary changes so he has some new people to work with. He said he's finally adjusted to mission life and really loves the people he is serving. The picture below is from his recent "date night..."}

Week Ten

This weekend I had the privilege to meet and listen to Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The first thing that we all noticed is how chipper he is. He walked in, looked at us and said "Hello!" We each walked up and shook his hand. Afterward, I was privileged to play the violin for him with a quartet of singers.

He spoke on many topics, so I'll only touch on a couple of them. One interesting comment he made was that the Brethren don't care about the number of converts the missionaries get. They care about how many of the missionaries' grandchildren are sealed in the temple. He emphasized that the person who should change the most on a mission is the missionary. They really care about each and every one of us. Other things he said were "A busy missionary is a happy missionary," and he talked about how the Spirit of Elijah with family history work is an untapped reservoir of power that missionaries need to use.

He also talked about marriage, and opened it by saying "I know we're not supposed to talk about marriage while on your mission... but let's talk about marriage." He said that we should not pop the question unless we are sure that the girl loves God, then us. He cares that we become worthy and capable spouses and parents, because many people of today's society are not brought up in the way they need to be and he talked about how a mission will prepare you for marriage. I am blessed with wonderful parents who care for me and raised me well.

Elder Nelson is an amazing Apostle of God.

I'm happy that I am serving a mission of God, because it is an amazing, refining experience that will change and better me if I put my effort into it. I hope that all of you will do something to help hasten the work of salvation.

Love you all!

Elder Stowell

Some of the missionaries who helped with flood relief. Last week they bagged 8 tons of sand!

Week Nine

I asked Sam to decide what he wants on the blog each week so this is straight from him. I think this format will work much better instead of having me summarize or cut and paste. We're so glad he's doing so well!! 

This week we've seen miracles.

We've been helping with the flood victims in northern Mesa, and the damage is terrible. So many people have lost much of what they own, and some have to renovate much of their home. But within a couple days of the flood, missionaries were mobilized to help those in need. Then on Saturday, 230 of the 250 missionaries in Mesa Mission were gathered to help. We spent several hours tearing out walls, moving sandbags, and passing out flyers. The city got calls on how grateful the people were and how effective and happy the missionaries were as they helped. It feels so good just to serve and work hard.

Also, one of our investigators solidly committed to live the Word of Wisdom and at the end of the lesson dumped all of his tobacco into the garbage. Others we are teaching are also working on overcoming their addictions. It's great seeing people coming unto Christ, both alone and together with others. 

I'm grateful for the gospel in my life, the joy it brings me, and that others around me can see the joy from having that knowledge.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Stowell

Week Eight

Here are a few snippets from Sam's letter this week. This letter was one of his longer ones, but most of it was answering our questions or notes to the kids so there's not much to include here. But overall, he's doing really well and enjoying his experiences very much.

[Our investigator's] baptism is still on!!! :D He even got anti'd the other day, and stood up for himself and God. He's great! :)

We're also helping someone come back to activity. He came to church on Sunday, which hasn't happened for awhile. He really is amazing, and I hope he keeps pushing on.

Ok, so I get to play for Elder [Russell M.] Nelson, but they didn't have the sheet music for violin (it's a quartet of singers, violin and piano), so they told me to improv! So I did :) President likes it! I also got asked to play at a funeral on Saturday. Man, I SO wish I had Gramp's violin. 

Ok, fun stuff about Mesa. There are wild parrots here, saw a couple of them. It flooded today, and as we were driving saw someone kayaking in a flooded field, another person swimming, and someone arguing with a cop over their Jet-Skis at a flooded park :)

Lots of pranks on the new missionary. :P But they're funny. Just got hot sauce put in my root beer cup and I sipped it up my straw within an inch of my mouth. Fun stuff. :)

Love you all!

Love, Elder Stowell

Sam knows how much I love clouds so I'm pretty sure he sent this one for me! :)

Week Seven

An Arizona Sunset

Sam is working hard and playing hard! Whether it's laser tag on p-day, a very dusty service project, playing the violin in Sacrament Meeting or going on splits with other missionaries where he's the "senior companion" for a day, it sounds like he's super busy and very happy.  

Here's what he says about one of his investigators:

"Our investigator is golden. He accepts everything we tell him/give him, and just from reading the Restoration and Plan of Salvation pamphlet he knows more than me. Almost not kidding. He could be a missionary right now. He's so excited for his [baptismal] date of Sept. 20, and committed to live the Word of Wisdom the first night we asked. I love that guy."

Lessons learned and goals to improve: 

"I'm realizing how important planning is. If you have no plan, you do no work. If you do no work, you don't have the Spirit. If you don't have the Spirit, you don't find, teach, or baptize."

"I'm trying to work on Christ-Like attributes, particularly diligence, virtue, and charity. I remember Grandpa telling me that the secret of missionary work is to love the people, and I can definitely see that."

Love you!

Elder Stowell